Malaysia's rubber exports soar in first half

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Malaysia's rubber and rubber products exports surged 150 percent to 44.43 billion ringgit (10.48 billion USD) in the first half of this year from 17.77 billion ringgit a year ago, due to the strong demand for rubber gloves amid the COVID-19 pandemic, official data showed on August 11.

The Malaysian Rubber Council (MRC), a unit under the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) in Malaysia, said in a statement that the downstream rubber products exports, making up the bulk 89.7 percent of the total rubber industry exports, surged by 180.2 percent year on year to 39.87 billion ringgit, driven by strong performance in the latex goods, in particular gloves products.

Latex goods, which consisted of rubber gloves and other latex products, accounted for 93.9 percent of the total exports of rubber products while dry rubber products such as tyres, general rubber goods, industrial rubber goods, footwear and inner tubes accounted for the remaining 6.1 percent.

The MRC said the demand for rubber gloves is projected to remain strong as the threat of the COVID-19 virus remains prevalent with the emergence of new variants.

It estimated the global demand for rubber gloves to maintain a double-digit growth of between 12 percent and 15 percent in 2021./.

VNA