Malaysia blocked the country, global medical gloves supply is tight

Malaysia, the world's largest producer and seller of disposable rubber gloves, has raised concerns about the tight supply of epidemic materials after the implementation of the closure of the country.

Malaysia Top Glove Group is the world's largest manufacturer of medical gloves, with an output of 200 million pieces / day. However, due to the suspension of supporting service providers, the inventory of packaging boxes was reduced to only two weeks.

Lin Weicai, President of Top Glove Group, pointed out that there is no packaging box and it is impossible to transport rubber gloves to the first-line hospital. Currently, only 50% of the required rubber gloves can be provided to the hospital.

In order to prevent the spread of the epidemic, the Malaysian government has decided to implement the closure of the country for a month from March 18 to April 14. During this period, people are prohibited from going out. If strict safety standards are met, some special industries, such as glove manufacturers, allow half of the employees to engage in production and business activities. Nevertheless, the Malaysian Glove Manufacturers Association (MARGMA) is still calling on the government to allow the industry to resume full operation.

Evena Lin, managing director of Malaysian packaging materials manufacturer EIT, said that their company has closed down production. Although the company is not restricted, it still needs to be approved to resume work.

New York University School of Medicine's infectious disease expert Celine Gunder pointed out that due to the increase in the number of patients with new coronary pneumonia, the number of rubber gloves used by medical staff every day is 6 times that of usual. If the supply of rubber gloves is inadequate, blood will not be collected safely, and many medical procedures will not be performed safely, so it may cause serious problems.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated on its official website that some rubber gloves can be used even after the expiration date.

The US government lifted the ban on a Malaysian rubber glove manufacturer (WRP Asia Pacific) on March 24, which was once prohibited from exporting products to the United States due to forced labor issues. Allegedly, the annual production capacity of the rubber glove manufacturer exceeds 11 billion.

Top Glove Group said that it is expected that the global rubber gloves market demand will increase by 16% to 345 billion this year. The group has customers in 195 countries and regions around the world, and orders have doubled since February. Sales are expected to increase by about 20 in the next 6 months