Rubber Journal Asia

Top Glove to secure raw material source

The company has about 8,000 ha of plantable area for rubber trees and expects to obtain 20% of its latex requirement from the plantations once the trees have matured. And by owning its own rubber plantation, Top Glove will be able to mitigate the rising cost of buying latex at market prices in the future.

Latex prices have risen by 57% from RM4.58/kg in the first quarter of 2010 to the current price of RM7.20/kg.

Due to the volatility of natural rubber prices, Top Glove is also going to focus more on producing nitrile gloves. In its first quarter ended 30 November 2010, the group's production mix for nitrile gloves was 7%, going up to 10% in December last year.

For the period ended 30 November 2010, company posted 44.6% lower net profit of RM36 million compared to RM65 million in the same period the year before.