The rubber, pepper and cocoa industry in Malaysia is not isolated from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic which triggered not only supply problems, but also demand, coupled with the labour shortage plaguing the agricultural sector.
The incentive for the pepper sector is to provide Smallholders Agricultural Input Assistance under the Pre-Prihatin 2020 Economic Stimulus Package amounting to RM3,000 for one hectare given on a one-off basis by issuing vouchers.
According to the DOSM, China remains the main destination for NR exports accounting for 46.0 per cent of total exports in September 2020, followed by Germany , Iran , Finland and Brazil . MRB’s Malaysian Rubber Exchange chief Ahamad Pazil Ahamad Puad said the fall in prices in the Kuala Lumpur rubber market during the year was due to factors such as falling prices in the regional rubber futures market due to significant sell-offs and profit-taking.
However, Ahamad Pazil said the recovery in rubber prices throughout 2020 was contributed by factors such as positive developments in the Covid-19 vaccine and economic recovery in China including vehicle manufacturing activities. Apart from that, he said the supply of rubber in the market was also affected due to political unrest and prolonged heavy rains in Thailand, floods in Vietnam as well as heavy rains in some rubber-tapping areas in China.
This collaboration was established to implement and monitor the management of NR production and balance the supply and demand of rubber in the world market through three main mechanisms, namely Agreed Export Tonnage Scheme, Supply Management Scheme and Demand Promotion Scheme.The Malaysian Pepper Board expects pepper prices to increase gradually from 2021 considering that from 2016 and 2017, pepper prices have declined and it will continue to do so until this year.
Total pepper production in 2020 is estimated at around 30,000 tonnes compared to 33,940 tonnes in 2019, however, the demand for pepper, especially Sarawak pepper, is still encouraging due to its high quality and aroma variation compared to pepper produced by other producing countries. In addition, until September 2020, Malaysia imported 1,631.89 tonnes of pepper, mostly from Vietnam which represented 53.7 per cent or 875.98 tonnes of the country’s total import of pepper.