YB Datuk Hajjah Zuraida Kamaruddin, Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities today launched the 10th International Rubber Glove Conference & Exhibition (IRGCE) in conjunction with the 3rd International Rubber Industry Convention and Expo (IRICE) and the Rubber Conference (RubberCon) 2022 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
10th IRGCE is organised by the Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (MARGMA) and 3rd IRICE is organised by the Malaysian Rubber Products Manufacturers Association (MRPMA) and both events are co-hosted by the Malaysian Rubber Council (MRC). MRC has organised a two-day business matching programme under its Global Sourcing Mission to benefit Malaysian companies engaging with potential international buyers. MRC has also organised Career Talks on 6 and 7 September specifically for students from local public and private learning institutions to alleviate their exposure and knowledge on career opportunities within the Malaysian rubber and rubber glove industries.
“This is the first time a collaboration of this scale is taking place amongst MARGMA, Malaysian Rubber Products Manufacturers Association (MRPMA) and Plastics and Rubber Institute Malaysia (PRIM) to draw the upstream and downstream industries closer together, with 10th IRGCE as the platform. We see this as an opportunity to strengthen the industry ecosystem as rubber gloves is the country’s top rubber products for export.”, said Mr. Denis Low, 10th IRGCE Organising Chairman cum Immediate Past President of MARGMA.
The umbrella concept managed, 10th IRGCE titled “Breaking Boundaries: Game Changing Initiatives” will feature products from 268 companies from 17 countries over 633 booths. The exhibitors comprise major players in the rubber glove supply chain including four World’s largest glovemakers, latex, and chemical suppliers, glove hand former makers, and more. Malaysia has the largest participation with 143 companies. The exhibition also unveiled the latest innovations, technologies, and trends within the medical rubber glove production line and discoveries of new materials.
The IRGCE 3-day conference will have 110 speakers from 13 countries including Malaysia, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Japan, and South Korea, presenting various papers covering topics on healthcare and regulation, technology innovation, advanced materials, as well as sustainability and social responsibility. A total of 915 conference tickets were sold with participants anticipating tracking key trends for the industry, particularly on biodegradable gloves and greener base additives that would be in line with the industry’s aim toward a recycling economy and raising ESG scores.
Running parallel, to the main IRGCE, is the 3rd IRICE. This is organised by MRPMA to promote Malaysian dry rubber products used in various industries such as building, engineering, electronics, automotive, sporting, crafts, and many more. This concurrent exhibition will host 78 companies in 86 exhibition booths, making it the largest Dry Rubber Products event in Malaysia.
Moving upstream and on level 4 of the KL Convention Centre is the RubberCon 2022 organised by PRIM. RubberCon presents 80 papers covering in details a wide range topics in the areas of Rubber Science & Technology, Rubber Manufacturing & Engineering, Environmental & Sustainability to Rubber Techno-Economic & Marketing. PRIM will also be opening its doors to university students in technical science to encourage them on the path of engineering, production, chemistry, and IT in the rubber glove sector.
State of Rubber Glove Industry
MARGMA President, Dr. S Supramaniam who presented the ‘State of the Rubber Glove Industry’ at the 10th IRGCE conference said, “Today, Malaysia continues to lead in innovative production of medical examination and surgical gloves. We have the world’s best right here in Malaysia producing about 259 billion pieces of gloves and supplying to 195 countries in the World, fulfilling about 65% of global demand. In 2021, the Rubber Glove Industry (RGI) contributed RM54.81 billion or 3.78% to the Malaysian GDP as a result of the exceptional surged in demand and Average Selling Price (ASP) due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Upon
equilibrium, the demand and ASP has normalised to pre-pandemic era hence this year we expect the RGI export value to be around RM23 billion or about 1.2% of Malaysia GDP in 2022.”.
“Global demand for rubber glove is expected around 399 billion pieces for 2022 with y-o-y annual growth expected at 10-12%. Last mile automation will be aggressively continued. Malaysian producers currently have the capabilities to produce at advanced speed of between 42,000 to 45,000 million pieces of gloves per hour from a low of 3000pcs per hour, 12 years ago. Way back in 2008, it took us 9.7 workers/1 million gloves/month: However, due to investments into continuous automation, we expect by 2024, to hit 1.5 workers/1 million gloves/month.”, added Dr. Supramaniam.
Drivers of Growth
Every subsequent epidemic and pandemic continues to push the awareness and usage of rubber gloves as was experienced with the recent Covid-19 pandemic and the emergence of Monkeypox. The United States of America continues to be the biggest consumption market with 75 pairs of glove used per capita and Europe at 50 pairs used per capita, while China and India average at about 2-3 pairs per capita. The Industry expects low per capita countries in Africa to be the new market for growth.
Outlook
MARGMA believes that natural rubber gloves are poised to make a comeback once buyers’ mindsets and concerns are appropriately addressed. The depletion of inventory in the pipeline will bring about a normal equilibrium, between production capacity utilisation and global demand. Alternative synthetics and natural rubber gloves will see wider consumer acceptance. The Industry is also advancing in the areas of recycling economy with new raw materials, additives, and substances that are environmentally friendly and biodegradable.
