The Edge Markets
PETALING JAYA (Nov 10): Iconic Worldwide Bhd announced in a statement on Wednesday (Nov 10) that its wholly-owned subsidiary Iconic Medicare Sdn Bhd had completed its new RM200 million personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturing facility for gloves and medical face masks on a 5.5-acre land parcel in the Batu Kawan Industrial Park, Penang.
The company obtained the certificate of completion and compliance (CCC) on Tuesday.
Iconic Worldwide managing director Datuk Tan Kean Tet said that with the new norm and public awareness of self-protection and hygienic practices, demand for PPE is expected to be sustainable even after Covid-19.
“Although the average selling price of gloves has been dropping, raw material prices have also dropped by about 70% as well, so we are confident of maintaining the bottom net figures. Furthermore, the group will be exploring the possibility of producing nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) in Malaysia to address market demand for the raw material,” he added.
He explained that Malaysia is the largest global consumer and importer of NBR, consuming 65% of the world’s supply. With local production, glove makers will be able to ensure consistent supply of the raw material in addition to reducing production and logistic costs.
According to the statement, the manufacturing facility is installing and commissioning glove and disposable medical face mask production lines, which are expected to yield a minimum production capacity of 3.3 billion pieces of gloves and 220 million pieces of medical face masks per annum.
In the initial stage, the company has started running four double former glove dipping lines and plans to increase this to six by year end. It is expected that by the first quarter of 2022, a total of 12 double former glove dipping lines and 20 medical face mask production lines would have been installed and commissioned.
“For gloves, we will be targeting mainly the export market. Demand in Malaysia is not high, so we are looking towards Europe and the US as our principal markets. We have already obtained the CE, FDA and ISO certifications for our medical face masks and nitrile gloves, all of which will enable the company to export its products overseas” Tan said.
“For masks, we are currently focusing on the local market but we are also exporting our products to overseas markets for better sustainability of the business.”
Medical face mask production is expected to contribute more significantly to Iconic Worldwide in the current financial year.
Glove production is only expected to contribute by the end of the financial year ending March 31, 2022.
In addition, Iconic Worldwide will continue to grow its property and tourism segments as it is in the midst of planning a new affordable housing project with a gross development value of RM210 million in Alma, Seberang Perai, Penang. This housing project is expected to be launched in 2022, comprising 750 affordable home units and 16 shoplot units.
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