Rubber Products (Gloves, Condoms etc)

[winston]

Tougher road ahead

With China players increasingly deploying overseas capacity to penetrate the US market more effectively, the competitive landscape is turning more aggressive, especially after 2025.

In our view, a price war is highly likely shaping up an over-supplied gloves market.

Separately, we believe upcoming results could be weak mainly due to weakening USD currency vs MYR.

We reiterate our NEGATIVE stance on the Malaysia glove sector and maintain SELLs on HART, KRI and TOPG.

Source: Maybank

https://mkefactsettd.maybank-ke.com/PDFS/464663.pdf

[winston]

Price war looming for the glove industry

By Gurmeet Kaur

New capacity from a major China glove maker is expected to come online by end-2025.

We understand that the China glove maker has started marketing to U.S. customers, offering upcoming capacity from its overseas plants in Vietnam and Indonesia at average selling prices (ASPs) of US$16–17 per 1000 pieces (k/pcs) with deliveries starting from November 2025 onwards.

For context, the ASPs of Malaysian glove makers are US$18–19/k pcs.

Separately, we believe the upcoming results (of glove manufacturers) could be weak mainly due to weakening US dollar currency versus the ringgit.”

Source: The Star

https://www.thestar.com.my/business/bus ... e=smartech

[winston]

Sales tax to squeeze Malaysian glove makers' profit margins and undermine global competitiveness, says Apex Securities

By Jazlin Zakri

The 5% sales and service tax (SST) on latex will likely put a squeeze on Malaysian glove makers' profit margins and further undermine their competitiveness on a global scale.

Imported natural rubber latex and nitrile butadiene rubber latex are subject to the sales tax under the PU(A) 170/2025 order, which would be implemented on July 1.

The 5% sales tax would raise Hartalega's total cost by 15%.

Source: theedgemalaysia.com

https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/759235

[winston]

ASEAN competition rises as tariff gap narrows

Outlook remains challenging

While M’sia now enjoys a lower U.S. tariff rate of 19% (down from the 25%), the narrow or zero tariff differential against regional peers such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam provides limited competitive advantage for M’sia glove makers, especially as China glove makers continue to expand capacity in these countries.

These offshore facilities allow China players to bypass US tariffs on China-origin goods, further intensifying competition within Southeast Asia (SEA) and limiting pricing power.

We maintain our NEGATIVE stance on M’sia glove makers with lower TPs. Maintain SELLs on HART, KRI and TOPG.

Source: Maybank

https://mkefactsettd.maybank-ke.com/PDFS/475078.pdf

[behappyalways]

Malaysian glove industry suffers a 30% plunge in global market share as it is overtaken by China.

全球市占猛挫3成 分析：大马手套业遭中国碾压追赶 | 新闻报报看 19/01/2026

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-L5XDhByJ5w

[winston]

Gloves (NEUTRAL)
“Nipah rerating” unlikely

A recent Nipah virus outbreak in India’s West Bengal may have boosted sentiment in the glove sector yesterday.

However, despite its high fatality rate and the absence of approved vaccines, the Nipah virus lacks the high transmissibility needed to morph into a global pandemic – thus, we reckon that a structural re-rating of the glove sector is unlikely.

Hence, we reiterate our NEUTRAL stance on the sector with all three glove makers under our coverage rated HOLD.

Source: HLIB

[winston]

Gloves (NEUTRAL)
Possible blessing in disguise

The ongoing Strait of Hormuz blockade has disrupted naphtha flows from the Middle East, directly constraining the availability of NBR used in medical gloves.

Our analysis suggests that a 37% drop in naphtha supply could meaningfully narrow the excess glove supply situation.

In our view, larger glove producers are likely to benefit from this scenario, likely at the expense of smaller players given their concentrated supply chains and new NBR prepayment requirements (20-30% which could further rise).

For now, we keep our NEUTRAL stance on the sector as our highlighted thesis is premised on the Iran war being a prolonged one.

Source: HLIB

[winston]

Glove sector outlook still remains mixed

The Hormuz disruption has directly constrained the availability of nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) used in medical gloves as naphtha shipments from the Middle East are curtailed.

A 37% drop in naphtha supply could translate into a roughly 25% reduction in global glove capacity, lowering annual output to about 384 billion pieces versus a demand of 341 billion.

Source: The Star

https://www.thestar.com.my/business/bus ... ains-mixed

[winston]

not vested

New Paradigm expects glove makers’ earnings to double in one to two quarters due to higher prices

By Luqman Amin

Expects glove makers’ earnings to double in one to two quarters on glove makers' unique opportunity to raise prices above and beyond direct cost impacts.

This is supported by industry-wide price adjustments, US tariffs limiting Chinese imports, and delayed increases in gas costs for producers.

Since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the nitrile prices have surged as the closure disrupted naphtha supply flows into Asia. Nitrile, which makes up roughly 40% of glove production costs, is derived from naphtha.

Malaysian glove makers source around 65% of their nitrile requirements from South Korea, which itself relies heavily on Middle Eastern naphtha imports.

Nitrile prices have risen about 60% on average since the conflict began.

Natural rubber gloves also tend to be less durable and not suitable for all applications.

US’ Section 301 tariffs on Chinese glove imports have effectively priced low-margin Chinese gloves out of the US market.

Malaysian manufacturers now account for more than 60% of US glove imports by volume, while China’s market share has fallen to below 10% from over 30% previously.

Source: theedgemalaysia.com

https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/802892