South Korea’s Kumho Petrochemical says that it has started the expansion for acrylonitrile butadiene latex (NB latex) at its facility in Ulsan, South Korea, from 400,000 tonnes to 550,000 tonnes/year.
With this expansion, Kumho says it will further consolidate its status as the “world’s No. 1 NB Latex manufacturer”. The expansion is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2019.
In 2016, Kumho doubled its annual production capacity for NB Latex to 400,000 tonnes, but the company is making the additional expansion of 150,000 tonnes for its Ulsan unit because the global demand for latex gloves will gradually increase. Other major NB latex manufacturers aside from Kumho Petrochemical include Synthomer in Malaysia and Nantex in Taiwan.
Kumho’s NB latex, which is used as a raw material for manufacturing medical rubber gloves that are thin and light but do not easily get torn, has also been extended for industrial and cooking purposes through the continuous improvement of its physical properties. In addition, gloves made of such a synthetic latex do not trigger an allergic reaction to certain proteins found in natural latex gloves.
The company has recently developed a new NB latex product, KNL 834, with enhanced physical stability and tensile strength, and it continues to expand its sales based on what it says are “solid partnerships” with customers.
The latex gloves market currently centres on Southeast Asia countries like Malaysia. With the demand expected to rise by about 10% every year, Kumho established an operation office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2016 as part of its efforts to respond to the expanding market.
Kumho registered an operating profit of 165.8 billion won on sales of 1.3 trillion won for the first three months of this year. Its first-quarter operating profit made a 152% jump compared to a year ago period. It was the first time in six years for the quarterly figure to top 100 billion won. Strong earnings were seen across the board with its mainstay synthetic rubber business delivering 33.2 billion won, synthetic resins 24 billion won, phenols 66.6 billion won, and energy 40.4 billion won.