Semperit AG Holding, an Austrian company that develops, produces and sells specialised rubber and plastic products for the medical and industrial sectors, is allocating some RM220 million to expand production capacity at its facilities in Kamunting, Perak.
“This is the largest ever investment in capacity increase by Semperit,” the company said in a statement recently.
The construction of a new glove factory will begin on the premises of its Kamunting plant, where Semperit has been operating six production facilities for medical and protective gloves since its acquisition of Latexx Partners Bhd in 2012.
“The first batch of gloves is expected to leave the production lines from the middle of next year, with the entire project scheduled for completion at the end of 2016,” the company said.
The integration of Latexx Partners into Semperit’s Sempermed segment was successfully concluded last year.
Sempermed is the largest segment in the Semperit group and ranks among the world’s leading manufacturers of medical and industrial gloves.
Its chief executive officer Thomas Fahnemann said the capacity expansion drive will enable Semperit to strengthen its position in the global glove market.
“We can reach this goal by offering competitive production costs. For this reason, the new facility will deploy state-of-the-art technologies as the basis for a high level of automation and the optimal use of natural resources.
“It will be one of the world’s most efficient manufacturing plants for nitrile gloves,” he said.
According to the statement, production speed will be significantly increased compared to the performance of existing factories.
“The new facility will boast 50 per cent lower gas and electricity consumption,” it said.
The new investments will lay the groundwork for the Sempermed segment to continue its expansion path for the examination gloves market, which is enjoying an increase in demand of five to seven per cent annually.