Surge in rubber glove demand to lift 2021 rubber products export

Surge in rubber glove demand to lift 2021 rubber products export

18 Jul 2021

Malaysia’s export of rubber products is estimated to increase by 80 per cent to reach RM74 billion this year from RM41 billion last year, attributed to a spike in the export of rubber gloves.

Rubber gloves would likely constitute over 90 per cent of the country’s total export of rubber products, said a Malaysian Rubber Board spokesperson.

“The improving global economic activities have scaled-up the outlook for natural rubber (NR) demand. Global consumption of NR is anticipated to increase 6.7 per cent to 13.7 million tonnes in 2021 following the 7.8 per cent fall in 2020.

“The consumption in major markets like China and the United States has shown a positive increase due to resumption of business operations following the vaccines rollout to combat the Covid-19 pandemic,“ he told Bernama in an email interview.

However, he said the resurgence of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia, which led to movement restrictions and lockdown, minimisation of workforce and other various control measures imposed by the government would cause disruptions in the NR supply chain.

Meanwhile, he said Malaysia’s NR export is expected to rise by about 5.0 per cent to RM6.5 billion compared with RM6.2 billion in 2020, mainly supported by good rubber price in 2021 over 2020.

In terms of rubber production trend this year, he said it is projected to increase to 530,000 tonnes this year from 514,700 tonnes in 2020, which was the lowest in a decade.

Source: Bernama