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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s rubber glove makers are struggling to meet growing demand for medical gloves during the pandemic due to worker shortages, the industry’s trade association said on Friday, adding that it could cost the country dearly. in export earnings.
The Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association of Malaysia (MARGMA) estimated that the industry may have lost around 7.6 billion ringgit ($ 1.85 billion) of revenue to Malaysia due to labor shortages.
MARGMA had revised its export earnings forecast by 36.7% to RM29.8 billion, and export volumes increased by 9% to 240 billion pieces of gloves this year.
Chairman Denis Low said MARGMA members face challenges in meeting demand from around the world “and the main bottleneck bottleneck is huge shortages of workers and raw materials.”
“We plead with our government to allow a reasonable number of foreign workers to work in our factories,” Low said.
MARGMA said that strict industry rules on overtime are also holding back productivity.
He said members “do not want to be charged with forced labor,” but migrant workers have requested to work longer hours to earn more wages to send to their families.
“Workers are equally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and want to earn more wages to protect their own families,” Low said.
In the past 12 months, United States Customs ordered the arrest of two Malaysian glove manufacturers, including the world’s largest Top Glove Corp, on the grounds that they were suspected of using forced labor.
Top Glove said this week that it continues to work with US authorities to lift the arrest warrant.
($ 1 = 4.1170 ringgit)
– Reuters
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