Kaula Lumpur, May 13 (IANS): Malaysia's natural rubber production decreased by 9.2 per cent in March to 26,966 tons as compared to 29,691 tons in February, official data showed Monday.

The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement that year-on-year comparison showed that the production of natural rubber decreased by 0.8 per cent from 27,188 tons in March of 2023, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the DOSM, total stocks of natural rubber in March fell 3.3 per cent to 222,455 tons as compared to 229,940 tons in February.

Meanwhile, exports of Malaysia's natural rubber amounted to 58,965 tons in March, up 7 per cent as against 55,083 tons in February.

China remained the main destination for natural rubber exports, which accounted for 48.9 per cent of total exports in March, followed by Germany (9.3 per cent), the United Arab Emirates (9.2 per cent), India (6.9 per cent) and Pakistan (4.5 per cent).

The export performance was contributed by natural rubber-based products such as gloves, tires, tube and rubber thread.

Gloves were the main exports of rubber-based products with a value of 1.14 billion ringgit (240 million U.S. dollars) in March, an increase of 3.9 per cent as compared to 1.1 billion ringgit in February. (1 ringgit equals 0.21 U.S. dollar).