KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (May 15) — Malaysia´s production of natural rubber in March fell 17.1. percent from a year earlier and 20.9 percent from the previous month, according to a government agency.
For the first three months of the year, NR output declined 5.2 percent to 331,396 metric tons, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia. While exports were up in March, they fell 21.8 percent in the year-to-year comparison.
China remains the largest customer of Malaysian NR, at 75,217 tons through March, twice as much as the second-largest export market, Germany. The U.S. imported 15,235 tons, the agency said.