The Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (MARGMA) expects the country’s total export revenue of rubber gloves to hit RM15.2 billion for 2017, and is optimistic that global demand for rubber gloves will grow to between 8% and 10% next year.
However, MARGMA has lowered this year’s export forecast to RM13.8 billion from an earlier target of RM14.3 billion. According to MARGMA president Denis Low Jau Foo, Malaysia’s rubber glove exports are only able to grow by 5% to RM13.8 billion from last year’s RM13.1 billion due to the shortage of workers.
Since February 2016, there has been a shortage of foreign workers to run production lines. Another reason for the low forecast was the production shutdowns in the past few months due to water shortage at factories.
Nevertheless, Low said MARGMA members are grateful for the considerate move by the Energy Commission and Gas Malaysia Bhd to reduce the natural gas tariff from January 1 to June 30, 2017.
Low said that it is necessary for manufacturers to cut costs all round to stave off competition from abroad. He added that the 1.3% decrease in the natural gas tariff is a much-welcome relief for rubber glove manufacturers.
“This (is happening) against the background of a natural gas tariff increase of 17.2% on January1, 2016 and a further 6% increase on July 15, 2016. Both increases had raised the Malaysian natural gas price to world market levels,” Low said.
While the natural gas tariff will be lower in 2017, he noted that rubber glove production costs will remain high, as the prices of natural rubber latex and synthetic nitrile latex have risen significantly in recent months.