Natural rubber production recovered in the month of May, as the seasonal leaf foliation period ended in April, according to the latest data by the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries.

May's output grew 12.2 percent month-on-month to just over 1 million metric tons, but was slightly lower than the same month last year, ANRPC said in a June 20 statement.

The association marginally lowered its projection for the 2023 global NR production to 14.888 million tons, down from 14.916 million tons reported in April. This, it said, was due mainly to China's lowering its output forecast from 880,000 tons to 852,000 tons for the year.

While most ANRPC members increased production in May, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka registered a fall from the previous month. The association linked this drop to circumstances such as climate change, "unsightly, uneconomical low rubber prices", and the negative consequences of leaf diseases.

In Malaysia, for instance, several farmers reported that heat waves had reduced their productivity by around 40-50 percent, said ANRPC.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, is still struggling to recover from its "worst economic crisis" in 2022, when fertilizer shortages delayed tapping in young plantations, which led to 60 percent of the country's rubber estates being affected by Pestalotiopsis leaf fall diseases.

This has resulted in low yield across plantations this year, ANRPC added.

In terms of demand, the association revised up annual outlook by 0.3 percent to 15.118 million tons, following an upward revision to Chinese demand.

For the month of May, year-on-year demand grew 3.5 percent to 1.272 million tons, despite a marginal month-on-month decline.