Private sector to be asked to help boost prices, govt will seek to also increase demand.

Political activist group Otai Reformis wants Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok and her deputy Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin axed over their apparent inaction in helping rubber tappers weather the drop in the price of the commodity.

Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures ended higher on Tuesday, after hitting a 26-month low earlier in the session, as a weaker yen against the U.S. dollar prompted investors to unwind their short positions, dealers said.

The natural rubber output of Malaysia in September was 49,022 tonnes, falling 22 percent on a monthly basis, according to the country’s Department of Statistics.

The December contract of rubber on Indian Commodity Exchange hit a three-month low of 12,112 rupees per 100 kg today, tracking weakness in benchmark contracts on Tokyo Commodity Exchange and a fall in prices of natural rubber in key spot markets of Kerala, a

Stocks of natural rubber fell 2.3 per cent to 179,844 tonnes in September 2018 compared with 184,051 tonnes at the end of August, says the Statistics Department (DoS).

Earnings growth in the rubber gloves sector are expected to slow down but remain resilient as the demand-supply dynamics in the industry normalises.

The issue of rubber tappers’ income following a recent fall in rubber prices will be raised in the Budget 2019 debate in the hope that the federal government will reconsider an allocation for the affected group.

The rubber speed breakers in accident-prone zones across the district do no good, say commuters and activists.

The Rural Development Ministry has ways to help raise the income level of smallholders hit by the low commodity prices of rubber and palm oil, said its minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun.