Top Glove eyes €1.6bn expansion, prepares to start new Vietnam factory

Kuala Lumpur – Rubber gloves manufacturer Top Glove is planning to invest RM8 billion (€1.6 billion) in expansion projects over the next six years as the Covid-19 pandemic drives demand.

Investments will be made in new capacity, upgrading existing facilities, the construction of a gamma sterilisation plant, land bank for future expansion, Industry 4.0 digitalisation and improvements to workers’ facilities, Top Glove said in its 2020 annual financial report 17 Sept.

The RM8 billion investment figure is significantly higher than Top Glove's previously announced capex for the six years to 2026.

In June, the gloves maker said it had earmarked RM3 billion to build 450 new production lines by 2026, creating capacity for the manufacture of 60 billion pieces of gloves over the six-year period.

With the most-recently announced capex, Top Glove expects to increase output by an additional 100 billion pieces of gloves per year, from the current capacity of 85.5 billion pieces per annum.

Furthermore, Top Glove said it was preparing to bring on-stream its first production facility in Vietnam in October. 

Based in Binh Duong, Factory F41, will have an initial capacity to produce 2.4 billion pieces of PVC gloves per year from 10 production lines.

In addition to the new capacity in Vietnam, Top Glove expects to complete ongoing upgrade projects at its Kluang and Kota Bharu facilities in Malaysia before the yearend, raising the group's total output to 89.1 billion pieces a year by the end of 2020.