Glove makers on the uptrend

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices of glove makers were on the upward trend yesterday, with Hartalega Holdings Bhd, Top Glove Corp Bhd and Supermax Corp Bhd seeing a surge in their prices.

Hartalega shares jumped 15 sen to RM8.85 with 3.28 million shares traded while Top Glove’s shares gained six sen to RM6.95 with 3.01 million shares traded.

Supermax’s shares rose one sen to RM1.87 with 2.08 million shares changing hands.

Affin Hwang Capital analyst Ng Chi Hoong said the upward trend was due to higher sales volume as a result of the improved demand from end users.

Inter-Pacific Research head of research Pong Teng Siew said Malaysia continued to enjoy some advantages of early-bird movements in glove innovations, which propelled stock movement.

“Malaysia is quick to take advantage of an early-bird movement from latex glove to nitrile glove producer to achieve economies of scale.

He said many latex glove producers had switched to nitrile glove manufacturing, as the industry had garnered strong support in terms of development of glove machinery.

This has allowed the glove industry to produce better quality gloves more efficiently.

Pong said nitrile glove had a certain advantage as, being made from a synthetic material, the quality could be tweaked to have certain levels of strength and elasticity. Ayisy Yusof