PETALING JAYA: The growth of rubber gloves industry will continue in 2020 with export revenue to hit RM20.68 billion in 2020 versus RM18.2 billion expected this year, said Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (Margma).
Its president Denis Low Jau Foo said this was driven by higher global demand with Asia and Africa emerging as the next biggest growth for Malaysia’s rubber gloves industry.
“Global demand for rubber gloves is estimated to reach 300 billion gloves this year, with an expected annual growth of 12 percent.
“While of the total, 188 billion gloves will be produced by Malaysia which is the world’s largest producer and the leading exporter of rubber gloves, contributing 63 percent of the global supply,” he told the press conference on Margma industry brief 2019, here yesterday.
Meanwhile, Low noted that for Jan-Aug 2019, the industry recorded a total export of RM11.30 billion, a decrease of 2.4 percent compared to RM11.58 billion for the same period in 2018.
“However, it is cyclical as the arrival of monsoon and year-end holiday season, the industry will export more and at a higher price in the months of November and December due to the spike in year-end demand and low inventory among our buyers.
“Thus, it is still possible that the export revenue for 2019 will surpass that of 2018,” he said.
Commenting on the cost, he said there would be an increase in the cost of doing business due to the rise in prices of natural gas and raw materials as well as the cost of implementing stringent compliance measures.
This he said, would lead to a price increase in rubber gloves next year.
“Probably about a 10 percent increase in the price of gloves to between US$1.50 and US$2 per carton of gloves next year.
“Each manufacturer will have to adjust their pricing depending on the product type and
manufacturing costs,” he added. – Bernama
