IN LIGHT of a dip for rubber glove demand in recent times, the Malaysian Rubber Council (MRC) has urged glove manufacturers to switch their focus by delving into the non-medical segment.
This is given the potential of the segment and its key clients to make the industry more lucrative rather than merely for glove makers to bank their focus on the healthcare sector, according to CEO Nor Hizwan Ahmad.
“Industry players should be creatively exploring ways and means to make the glove industry profitable and thriving again,” he pointed out in a media statement.
“After all, disposable non-medical grade gloves come in various range of sizes, colours, thicknesses, and textures. Applications for such gloves exist in businesses from tattoo parlours to laboratories and even childcare centres.”
In the first three months of 2022, latex goods accounted for 83.1% of total exports of Malaysia’s rubber products.
While the gloves sub sector remained the largest export revenue generator for the rubber industry, it posed a 66.2% decline to RM6.04 bil. Nevertheless, surgical gloves remain the highest earner with export revenue of almost RM561.7 mil, an increase of almost 13.3% from the previous year.
Meanwhile, latex threads recorded a 21.8% year-on-year (yoy) increase to RM240 mil (1Q 2021: RM197.1) while catheters posted a rise of 66.5% to RM113 mil and foam products edged up 204.2% to RM106.1 mil.
Elaborating on his proposal, Nor Hizwan said Malaysian glove makers can focus on the food and beverages (F&B) industry where the utilisation of gloves has always been limited for the longest time.
“However, there seems to be an increasing trend for the past eight to 10 years within the industry due to the rising awareness among industry players and consumers alike, taking cognisance of the fact that food handling revolves around to-notch hygiene,” he justified.
“Moreover, gloves even apply to the semiconductor and electronics industry to protect an electrical or electronic component from contamination.”
Focusing on resiliency, MRC is currently facilitating local manufacturers to secure new markets and “spreading their wings” to the non-medical sectors. Recently, it participated in the Food Safety Summit Conference & Expo 2022 in Illinois, US to promote food handling gloves.
MRC had also participated in the British Dental Conference and Dentistry Show 2022 at National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham, UK as part of the initiative to promote high quality dental products, including dental gloves, orthodontics elastics and dental dams. – May 25, 2022
