Iconic Worldwide going big into glove making

Group executive director James (pic) Tan told StarBiz the group would deliver the one billion pieces to the United States, the United Kingdom and China.

GEORGE TOWN: Iconic Worldwide Bhd is getting ready to ship out one billion pieces of gloves by the end of March 2022.

Group executive director James (pic) Tan told StarBiz the group would deliver the one billion pieces to the United States, the United Kingdom and China.

“The estimated market value of the one billion pieces is about US$90mil. The current average selling price of 100 pieces of gloves is US$9.

“The sales of the gloves will materialise in our financial year 2022 accounts, ” he said.

According to Tan, the group’s glove production plant in Batu Kawan is being constructed on a 5.5-acre site.

Iconic's gloves display

“The plant will be completed in April and will undergo a trial run in July. We will install six lines in April and production is scheduled to begin in September.

“Another six lines will be installed in July so that production will start in early December 2021. We are investing RM155mil for the land, factory and the machinery, ” he said.

For the financial year ending March 31,2022 (FY22), the property division will no longer be the lead contributor to the group’s revenue.

“For FY22, revenue contribution from the property segment is about RM60mil.

“Our glove and mask manufacturing business is expected to contribute over 85% of the group’s revenue. The glove business will be the significant contributor, ” he said.

The property division generated 85% of the group’s revenue in 2020, and in FY21, it is expected to contribute about 70%.

Tan said the group ventured into mask manufacturing in 2020 because during the initial movement control order period, its Iconic Hotel in Bukit Mertajam was shut down temporarily from March to April.

“To continue giving the workers employment, we invested in the mask manufacturing business so that at least 30% of the workers from the hotel division could continue to be employed.

“Subsequently, we found that glove manufacturing is also a lucrative business due to the global pandemic. So in the final period of 2020, we invested in glove manufacturing, ” he said.

According to the Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association, global demand for gloves is projected to hit 420 billion pieces in 2022, from 330 billion pieces in 2020.

“The projected annual growth is 20%. Malaysia is expected to ship out about US$5bil worth of gloves in 2020.

“This year, the export figure should be about 20% higher. In 2020, Malaysia is forecast to produce 67% of the total global glove demand, which is 220 billion pieces.

“Our target is to manufacture at least 5% of the total global glove demand, ” Tan said.

He said that the group is looking for more land in Seberang Prai and on the Penang island for its property business.

“Whenever the opportunity arises, we will launch affordable housing and commercial projects, ” he added.