Rubber Resilience: Malaysia’s Exports Surge Despite January Production Dip
Malaysia’s natural rubber sector opened 2026 with a mixed yet encouraging performance, highlighting the resilience of one of the country’s most important commodities.
According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, natural rubber production recorded a slight decline in January 2026, while exports experienced a significant surge, reflecting strong global demand for rubber-based products.
Natural rubber production slipped marginally by 0.4% month on month, reaching 28,579 tonnes in January compared with 28,684 tonnes in December 2025. On a year-on-year basis, output fell 5.9% from 30,357 tonnes, underscoring the ongoing structural challenges faced by the upstream rubber industry.
Despite the dip in production, smallholders remained the backbone of Malaysia’s rubber industry, contributing 87.6% of total output, while estates accounted for the remaining 12.4%.
While production softened slightly, inventory levels increased significantly during the month. Total natural rubber stocks rose 9.3% to 133,042 tonnes, up from 121,686 tonnes recorded in December.
Rubber processors held the majority of these inventories, accounting for 80.5% of total stocks. Rubber-consuming factories represented 19.3%, while estates held just 0.1% of the national stockpile.
The most striking development came from the export market, where Malaysia recorded a strong rebound.
Natural rubber exports surged 30.6% in January to 41,983 tonnes, compared with 32,139 tonnes in December 2025, signalling renewed demand from global manufacturing hubs.
China remained Malaysia’s largest export destination, accounting for 40.3% of total natural rubber exports.
Other key markets included:
- United Arab Emirates – 15.2%
- Germany – 13.6%
- United States – 5.6%
- Brazil – 3.6%
The growth in exports was supported by shipments of rubber-based products such as rubber gloves, tyres, tubes, and rubber thread, which continue to drive Malaysia’s rubber trade.
Among these products, rubber gloves remained the top export segment, generating RM1.2 billion in January 2026. However, the figure represented an 8.5% decline from RM1.3 billion in December, suggesting slightly softer demand compared with the previous month.
Price trends across the rubber market were mixed.
The average price of concentrated latex edged down marginally to 576.14 sen per kilogram, compared with 576.20 sen per kilogram in December, marking a negligible 0.01% decline.
Meanwhile, scrap rubber prices rose sharply, climbing 4.5% to 618.72 sen per kilogram from 592.08 sen per kilogram in the previous month.
Industry analysts note that global demand cycles, commodity market fluctuations, and manufacturing trends in key economies will continue to influence Malaysia’s rubber production, pricing and export performance in the months ahead.
Despite short term production pressures, the sector’s strong export rebound signals renewed momentum for Malaysia’s rubber industry in 2026.
