ANRPC reports 7% growth in NR demand in February

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Natural rubber consumption registered a 7.3-percent year-on-year increase during February, following a 17-percent decline the month before, the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries has reported.

Global NR consumption last month reached 1.2 million metric tons, driven by high demand from China, other Asian countries and the rest of the world, ANRPC said in its monthly report, issued March 20.

Partially impacted by the week-long Chinese New Year, consumption in January fell to 1 million tons, the Malaysia-based association also noted.

NR production registered a 2.6-percent year-on-year increase in February, to over 1 million tons.

ANRPC also provided final NR figures for 2022, slightly revising down its estimated production figure for the year to 14.35 million tons.

The update reflected a 13,000-ton increase in India's output forecast to 843,000 tons and a 19.7-percent year-on-year decrease in Malaysia's to 377,000 tons, ANRPC said.

Overall, production growth stood at 1.97 percent for the year, as opposed to an earlier estimate of 2.0 percent reported in January.

Demand last year rose 1.6 percent to 14.766 million tons, reflecting a marginal revision in the initial full-year estimate of 14,756 million tons reported in January.