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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia, the world’s largest producer of rubber gloves, said on Wednesday that it does not anticipate any supply disruptions after a major manufacturer closed some factories due to a coronavirus outbreak among its workers.
Malaysia makes just under two-thirds of the world’s medical rubber gloves, the global demand for which has risen with the pandemic, helping manufacturers like top gloveCorp report record profits.
But after thousands of workers at Top Glove factories in Klang, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Kuala Lumpur, tested positive for COVID-19, the government said it would close some of its factories in phases to monitor and quarantine workers.
The affected factories represent about half of the total production capacity of Top Glove, the world’s largest manufacturer of latex gloves.
“Please be assured that new capacity is available to make up the interim shortfall and that there will be no aggravated disruption in what is currently being supplied to the world,” the Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association said on Wednesday.
Authorities, fighting the largest group in the country since the pandemic began, have erected barbed wire fences in front of workers’ shelters.
The Health Ministry said Tuesday that the total number of infections in the Klang group reached 4,036 of the 5,777 people tested.
Top Glove said Wednesday that it continues to screen employees for COVID-19 and expects confirmed cases to decline in the future. Most of those tested were asymptomatic, he said.
On Tuesday, the company said it expected deliveries to be delayed and sales to be hit in fiscal 2021.
The company has about 16,000 factory employees and operates 47 plants in Malaysia, Thailand, China and Vietnam, with 36 of them producing gloves.
Shares of Top Glove fell 7.5% on Tuesday and another 3% on Wednesday.
Hartalega
Holdings and Supermax Corp are the other two big manufacturers of rubber gloves in Malaysia. – Reuters
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