KUALA LUMPUR (April 9): World rubber glove demand is expected to spike if the H7N9 bird flu in China develops into an epidemic along the proportions of the H1N1 outbreak in the 2009-2010, according to Top Glove Corporation Bhd managing director K.M. Lee.
In an email reply to the theedgemalaysia.com, Lee said Top Glove will continue with its capacity expansion to fulfill a potential rise of up to three folds in demand for rubber gloves in China should the current outbreak gets worse.
“It would depend on the extent to which bird flu would have spread and if the mandatory use of medical gloves is enforced. Depending on the scale of glove usage, the rise in demand can be as substantial as a two or three fold increase for some countries,” Lee said.
According to him, Top Glove has been able to capitalise on its spare capacity should there be a sudden surge in glove demand, similar to the trend seen in 2010’s H1N1 outbreak.
The world’s largest rubber glove producer in terms of capacity has annual output of some 42 billion pieces of gloves. It plans to raise the figure to 47.9 billion pieces next year.
Lee said Top Glove will also further automate its production lines to improve efficiency and reduce reliance on labour.
“In addition, plans are underway to venture upstream into rubber plantations to mitigate the volatility of latex prices, as well as to balance our product mix between rubber and nitrile gloves in line with demand,” he said.
Source:
