The Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (Margma) is optimistic that the global demand for rubber gloves will continue to grow at a rate of 8% to 10% for 2015, amid the weakening of the ringgit against the US dollar.
President Lim Kwee Shyan said although the Malaysian rubber glove industry was slightly affected last year on the backdrop of a sluggish economy, the industry was expected to be resilient this year, fuelled by the increase in global demand.
“Malaysian glove companies’ global market share currently stands at 62% and the global consumption of rubber gloves was 176 billion pieces last year, of which we provided 112.5 billion pieces.
“We expect consumption/demand to increase in Asia, particularly in India, Pakistan and China as healthcare awareness becomes crucial, while growth in other regions like United States and Europe would continue to boost exports as well,” Lim said during a media roundtable discussion on the outlook of rubber glove industry for 2015 yesterday. He also hoped Malaysian glovemakers’ market share would increase to 65% by 2020.
The session was attended by leaders of Top Glove Corp Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd, Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd and Careplus Group Bhd.
Lim said it was pertinent for the glove players to retain their position as the largest supplier of rubber gloves and hoped that the Government would continue to support the industry and help ease its electricity, gas and water cost burden.
“While the global market is very competitive, our glove players have been able to produce the finest gloves.
“The industry is currently entering a technology transformation and most of the plants are highly automated and are less labour intensive. However, electricity, gas and water still remain the main challenges for the industry aside from the dip in the average selling price of both natural and synthetic rubber (SR) gloves (an affect from falling raw material price),” Lim said.
He added that natural rubber (NR) latex price dropped from RM8.89 per kg in 2011 to RM4.50 per kg last year.
Last year, NR gloves export value (pricing) fell 5.9%, while that of SR gloves shed 5.7%.
Export volume for NR and SR gloves climbed 6.4% and 0.3%, respectively.
A shift in demand ratio was also prevalent between NR and SR from 49:41 in 2013 to 53:47 in 2014.
Meanwhile, Hartalega Holdings Bhd managing director Kuan Mun Leong said Malaysia had a strong foothold of the global rubber glove market due to the healthy eco-system, which is condusive to propel the industry to a new level.
“The glove industry has become very innovative and has gone into technological tranformation. Nonetheless, we need the support of the Government to facilitate the transformation. Innovation comes from talent and hence people skills. With the right talent pool, the industry is set to see better prospects in the years ahead,” Kuan said.
Supermax Corp Bhd executive chairman Datuk Seri Stanley Thai said the global demand for gloves remained robust and would continue even in times of recession, adding that most players had moved into producing Nitrile gloves in line with the current market demand.