Rubber and related product exports soar to RM63.2bil

Rubber and related product exports soar to RM63.2bil


KUALA LUMPUR: The overall exports of rubber and rubber products increased 70.7% to RM63.2bil in the January-October period compared to RM37bil in the same period in 2020.

The Malaysian Rubber Council (MRC) said Malaysia’s rubber products remain dominant in the third quarter of 2021, allowing the industry to continue to thrive and contribute to the country’s economy.

It said the latex goods sector continued to show strong performance amounting to RM51.4bil, an increase of 86.3% over the same period last year of RM27.6bil.

“Rubber gloves remain the highest earner with export revenue of almost RM50bil, an increase of almost 91% from the previous year.

“Medical gloves made up 40.1% of the latex goods sector amounting to RM22.2%,” it said in a statement yesterday.

The MRC said as countries were ramping up their vaccination programme, large-scale vaccine deployment increased the need for medical gloves such as examination gloves.

Besides, it said the dry rubber products sector indicates positive growth.

“The tyre industry was enhanced with the aim to diversify Malaysia’s export contribution of high-value products and increase the export performance of dry rubber products while simultaneously increasing the consumption of locally produced rubber,” it said.

It said the period of January-October 2021 saw an encouraging increase in tyre exports of 28.1% compared to the same period last year amounting to almost RM1.4bil.

Industrial rubber goods comprising products for the automotive, mining and construction sectors (37.2%) and footwear (20%) also showed an encouraging increase within the same period compared to last year.

Meanwhile, MRC chief executive officer Nor Hizwan Ahmad said the council is pushing for industry players to move up the global value chain by introducing new channels such as through collaborations with International Development Organisations (IDOs).

“MRC’s role here is to assist companies in leveraging the opportunities offered by the IDOs in terms of sales pipeline development, tender support and capacity building programmes,” he said.

He said the MRC will embark on a new initiative, namely the Global Fund for Rubber Innovation, to promote new ideas, innovations and inventions with high commercial viability within the rubber industry.

It is a RM10mil grant intended to seed innovative inter-disciplinary non-fundamental research with the potential to spur investments in high-value products and technologies within the rubber and rubber products industry. — Bernama

https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2021/12/24/rubber-and-related-product-exports-soar-to-rm632bil