Poly Glass Fibre ventures into making melt-blown non-woven fabric for surgical face masks

Yet another company is venturing into the production of personal protective gear (PPE) which has seen demand skyrocket due to Covid-19.

Poly Glass Fibre (M) Bhd, via its wholly-owned unit Concrete Energy Sdn Bhd, is venturing into the manufacturing of melt-blown non-woven fabric, a vital component of surgical face masks.

Poly Glass, which principally manufactures fiber glass wool and its related products, is seeking to address increasing demand for face mask material due to the ongoing pandemic.

“Leveraging on the company’s expertise in man-made fibre technology and manufacturing experience, it had placed an order with a reputable melt-blown technology developer to supply a state-of-the-art production line with the latest technology to deliver melt-blown non-woven fabric with optimal filtration efficiency and pressure drop at lower basis weights,” said Poly Glass in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

While the supply of upstream polypropylene raw materials is sufficient, Poly Glass said it is challenging to meet soaring demand for the fabric with the existing production capacity.

Poly Glass said that the production line will be installed at its existing facility in Penang and is expected to commence production by the end of June.

According to the company, its product range with high bacteria (BFE) and particle (PFE) filtration efficiency will be able to achieve stringent requirements of high-end face mask and filtration applications.

“The high-efficiency filtration medium is a non-woven sheet made of special ultra-fine polypropylene fibre and is the key material used to produce N95 (FFP2), N99 (FFP3), KN95, three-ply surgical face masks,” said Poly Glass.

Poly Glass said the melt-blown business is expected to have a positive impact on the company’s earnings and net asset per share for the financial year ending Feb 28, 2021 (FY21) as “a large volume of masks will continue to be essential items for the mass population until everyone is vaccinated”.

The melt-blown business will be funded through internally generated funds, said Poly Glass.

“The company has an existing clean room facility to house the melt-blown manufacturing line. This will reduce the capital expenditure and time required to commence production,” said Poly Glass.

Shares in Poly Glass closed one sen or 3.23% higher at 32 sen today, valuing the company at RM51.19 million.

Source: The Edge Markets