Supermax: Glove Makers Likely To Post Lower Profits

KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 (Bernama) -- Glove makers are likely to post lower profits in the next two to three months due to the strengthening of the ringgit, says Supermax Corporation Bhd. However, the situation is likely to stabilise, Group Managing Director Stanley Thai told a media briefing at Invest Malaysia 2016 here Tuesday. The ringgit is currently trading at RM3.88 to US$1.00 as foreign investors bought RM5.5 billion worth of domestic stocks in the first quarter of this year. Meanwhile, Thai said the strengthening od the local currency might not trigger a price war among manufacturers, pointing out that they had been raising prices for the past two months on the back of the strong ringgit and higher cost of raw materials. "The price of latex might go up to US$1,400 per tonne in May from US$1,120 per tonne now. "Nitrile latex is also likely to go up from US$960 per tonne now to US$1,100 per tonne," he said. Supermax, which expanded into producing contact lenses at its Sungai Buloh plant last year, will be injecting RM1.17 billion in capital expenditure over the next eight to 10 years for capacity expansion of its glove, industrial park and contact lens businesses. Thai said Supermax is on track to launch its new contact lens product in the third quarter of this year. He said 6.6 hectares out of the 40 hectares of land in the Supermax Business Park in Serendah, Selangor will be allocated for the contact lens headquarters with an integrated manufacturing facility. "The plant will be constructed in several phases and each phase will have an integrated manufacturing facility from research and development to formulation of monomers, cast mouldings, fillings, curing, delensing, packaging, sterilisation, warehousing and distribution facilities," he said. Thai said the project will take about eight to 10 years to complete. -- BERNAMA