Robust global demand for rubber gloves in 2022

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (Margma) expects global demand for rubber gloves this year to be at 452 billion pieces, which translates to 14,333 gloves being used every second.

During an industry briefing yesterday, it said it projects an annual year-on-year growth of between 12% and 15% for the export volume of gloves. However, there is no projected export revenue for Malaysia due to the volatility of the market.

The association also estimated Malaysia to hold 65% of total global market share for this year, and to retain its spot as the world’s number one rubber glove-producing nation.

This translates to 294 billion gloves to be produced in Malaysia in 2022.

Margma expects China to contribute 20% to the total global market share compared to a 10% a year ago, while Thailand will contribute 10%.

Margma president Dr Supramaniam Shanmugam said the higher contribution from China was due to a flurry of activity in terms of expansion by Chinese manufacturers.

It is believed that there are about 200 glove manufacturers all over the world and 75 of them are based in Malaysia. The country has about a 370-billion production capacity installed, believed to be running at around a 75% utilisation rate.

He believes there is threat of competition, especially from China. However, he said Malaysia managed to maintain its market share with its traditional buyers.

Meanwhile, the association noted that its focus was on five key areas, namely, remediation fees to free foreign workers from debt, the upgrade of hostels for local and foreign workers, the minimum wage to improve the lives of workers, the Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit or SMETA audit and self-regulation via the code of conduct.

To date, Margma members have expensed over RM400mil to free foreign workers from debt.

He added that the association will toe the line towards the national agenda in increasing the monthly minimum wage to RM1,500 from RM1,200. However, he hoped the government would increase the minimum wage by a staggered basis in the future.

“Margma estimates that the 25% increase in the minimum wage will result in an overall increase in production cost of between 1.42% and 2.75%, depending on the profile of the workers in each respective factory,” it said.

In addition, the industry is 82% automated and the association has a target to reach a 90% automation rate in the next two to three years.

There is good progression in terms of productivity due to automation as in 2009, 9.7 workers were needed to produce one million gloves while in 2020, 1.7 workers were needed to produce the same amount.

Based on a survey carried out in October-November 2021, the rubber glove industry hired only 1.7% of the total documented and undocumented foreign workers in the country, which is around 40,000 workers.

The industry has about 70,000 employees with nearly 19,000 vacancies, according to the survey.