KUALA LUMPUR, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's natural rubber production in May increased 0.2 percent month on month to 35,789 tonnes, said its statistics department Thursday.

However, the production decreased by 18.6 percent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, the natural rubber exports grew 7.6 percent month-on-month to 57,263 tonnes, with China remaining to be the largest exports market, accounting for 53.3 percent of the total exports.

Other main exports markets were Germany (12.7 percent), Iran (5.8 percent), Turkey (3.2 percent) and Finland (3 percent).

Domestic consumption of natural rubber in May went up 1.5 per cent to 44,043 tonnes.

Malaysia's natural rubber was widely used in the rubber glove industry with consumption of 33,299 tonnes or 75.6 percent of the total natural rubber domestic consumption.

Stock of natural rubber recorded at the end of May stood at 216,674 tonnes, a 14.6-percent decrease compared to that at the end of April.