Iconic Worldwide completes RM200 million PPE manufacturing facility
KUCHING: Iconic Worldwide Bhd (Iconic Worldwide), a Bursa Malaysia listed company that is primarily involved in tourism, property development and manufacturing of personal protective equipment (PPE), announced yesterday that its wholly-owned subsidiary Iconic Medicare Sdn Bhd has completed its new RM200 million PPE manufacturing facility for gloves and medical face masks in Batu Kawan, Penang.
The company obtained the Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC) on November 9, 2021.
Located on a parcel of land measuring approximately 5.5 acres in Batu Kawan Industrial Park, the facility is installing and commissioning glove and disposable medical face mask production lines, which are expected to yield a minimum production capacity of 3.3 billion pieces of gloves and 220 million pieces of medical face masks per annum.
At the initial stage, the group has started running four double former glove dipping lines, and plans to increase to six by end of the year.
By the first quarter of 2022, a total of 12 double former glove dipping lines and 20 medical face mask production lines would be installed and commissioned.
“We expect the demand for PPE to be sustainable even after the Covid-19 pandemic due to the new norm and public awareness of the need for self-protection and hygienic practices,” Iconic Worldwide managing director Datuk Tan Kean Tet said.
“Although the average selling price of gloves has been dropping, raw material prices has also dropped about 70 per cent as well so we are confident of maintaining the bottom net figures.
“Furthermore, the group will be exploring the possibility of producing nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) in Malaysia to address the market demand for the raw material.”
Tan explained that currently countries such as Korea, Japan, Thailand and China are the main producers of NBR, whereas Malaysia is the largest consumer and importer globally by consuming 65 per cent of the world’s supply of NBR.
By producing it locally, glove makers will be able to ensure a consistent supply of the raw material in addition to reducing production and logistics costs.
As for the group’s gloves and medical face masks businesses, he noted that the product quality outcome has been very good so far.
“The group has full confidence to move forward and expand even further. Iconic Medicare has diversified its medical face masks product range by producing new types of protective masks such as KF99 and KN99 respirators.
“These come with a 3D mask structure for better fit and double melt blown protection which improves the overall filtration performance.
“We are the first in Malaysia to produce copper oxide KF99 and KN99 masks that are able to kill the coronavirus as proven by lab testing.
“For gloves, we will be targeting mainly the export market. The demand in Malaysia is not high, so we are looking towards Europe and US as principal markets.
“We have already obtained the CE, FDA and ISO certifications for our medical face masks and nitrile gloves, all of which will enable the company to export its products overseas.
“For masks, we are currently focusing on the local market but we are also exporting our products to overseas markets for better sustainability of the business.”