Rubber industry in Malaysia


As of 2017, Malaysia is the fifth largest producer and exporter of natural rubber. They are the leader in the production and export of rubber products. They are also the largest consumer of natural rubber.
Malaysia contributes to 46 percent of total rubber production in the world and produces about 1-5 million tons of rubber annually. The production of rubber has declined from the 1990s which used to be 615222 tonnes.
Rubber manufacturers in Malaysia include local smallholders, plantations, multinationals and joint ventures with the United States, Europe, and Japan. Malaysia has a total rubber area of 1.07 million hectares, out of which 7.21 percent is owned by plantation companies. Ninety percent of production is accounted by smallholders who generally hold less than 40 acres of agricultural land. This statistics remains a major concern for the industry as these smallholders tend to move to other economic activities when the rubber price goes down.
The R&D infrastructure developed by Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia and Malaysian Rubber Board has made significant contributions and serves as the most comprehensive R&D set up for a single commodity. Malaysia also produces specialty rubber such as the epoxidized natural rubber and deproteinized natural rubber that can be used in green tires and high-performance engineering products to capitalize on the growing preference for natural and renewable materials.
Rubber grades supplied by Malaysia include: