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KUALA LUMPUR (18 September): The Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (MARGMA) has called for surveillance of unscrupulous individuals or companies posing as bona fide representatives of large manufacturers.
Its president, Denis Low Jau Foo, said that the association has urged its members to be proactive in finding scammers with the help of police and private investigators.
“This act is clearly tarnishing the image of the industry and Malaysia. It has an adverse effect on the global trade economy, ”she said today in a statement following a recent Wall Street Journal report on the sale of fake medical gloves in the United States.
At the same time, he asked buyers, distributors and importers to understand that genuine manufacturers are doing their best to supply adequately, as opposed to opportunistic middlemen who exploit on false promises.
“This industry is a mature, well-established industry where businesses and repeat buyers know the genuine manufacturers, while newcomers are susceptible to scammers,” he said.
Low added that supply and demand dynamics are unbalanced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the industry is doing its best to produce as many gloves as possible to meet the extraordinary demand around the world.
MARGMA members are hampered by various factors in making more gloves, and the main bottleneck-causing bottleneck is huge shortages of workers and raw materials, he said.
“According to our calculations, the industry could lose the opportunity to export more than 80 billion pieces of gloves in 2020 by not having enough workers. This translates to around RM7.6 billion in export earnings for Malaysia, ”he said.
Therefore, he asked the Government to allow a reasonable number of foreign workers to work in the factories.
He said that about 40 percent of the workforce are locals in leadership, professional and technical positions, and this group is well paid.
“We seek government support to ensure there are enough local workers available to support this top 40 percent,” he said.
On the trade side, Low said that MARGMA is revising its export revenue projection for 2020 from RM21.8 billion to RM29.8 billion, based on the performance of the first half of the year.
“MARGMA projected that in the next six months, export earnings are expected to reach 18 billion ringgit. The quantity is estimated to reach 130 billion pieces of gloves.
“By 2021, MARGMA estimates that our annual export earnings should reach RM33.8 billion, and the amount will increase to 270 billion pieces,” he said.
If demand for gloves would continue to be as strong as it is now, Low said it could take several years for the industry to meet demand as it is today.
“It would take a large factory between 18 and 24 months to produce between three and four billion pieces of gloves per year, and it takes between RM200 and RM250 million to build a factory of this type.
“Engineering and materials support must also expand together, otherwise they could not cope with the expansion program,” he said.
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