IF THERE is anything impressive about the recent artist impression of Supermax Corp Bhd’s advance manufacturing facility in Brazoria County, Texas, US, it has to be that the picture brings back unpleasant memories of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) having rejected the glove maker’s appeal to locate an operations headquarters in Setia Alam, Selangor.
Following failure to obtain approval from the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) to waive a 30% Bumiputera equity ownership condition prior to transferring ownership of the land, Supermax was forced to abort its plan to acquire two pieces of freehold land in Setia Alam from S P Setia Bhd’s subsidiary Bandar Setia Alam Sdn Bhd for RM73.49 mil cash.
The operations headquarters is intended for its wholly-owned subsidiary Maxter Glove Manufacturing Sdn Bhd.
Yesterday (March 22), the Big-Four glove maker announced to Bursa Malaysia that the facility belonging to its US-based subsidiary Maxter Healthcare Inc will be the company’s 18th manufacturing plant worldwide and its first in the US.
The new 215-acre manufacturing facility will showcase cutting edge capabilities through expanded use of artificial intelligence and robotic engineering. The facility comprises a total of eight buildings.
Phase one will begin construction sometime in the 2Q 2022 with glove production expected to start sometime in 2Q 2023. The company had earlier announced an investment of US$350 mil on the first of four construction phases.
The Texas facility will cater to at least 10-15% of annual medical nitrile glove demand in the US over the next two to four years in the first phase alone. The second phase will follow closely by meeting 20-25% of US demand and consumption over the next four to six years.
“Manufacturing within the US has always been a desire of Supermax because it reinforces our high standards for quality and achievement,” commented Supermax founder and executive chairman Datuk Seri Stanley Thai. “We are global leaders in the industry and will continue to set the standard for others to follow.”
Supermax Group has engaged ARCO/Murray, a top builder for warehouse and distribution space, for this project.
Said Supermax Healthcare Inc CEO CK Tan: “The appointment of ARCO reinforces our commitment to being a world leader in the medical PPE manufacturing space. ARCO is one of the largest design-build general contractors in the US and offers the strength and national presence required for a project of this size and complexity.”
Supermax currently exports to 165 different countries and has distribution centres and operations in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Brazil, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
At the close of yesterday’s trading, Supermax was down 2 sen or 1.75% to RM1.12 with 5.05 million shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM3.05 bil. – March 23, 2022
