Iconic’s new plant to double glove production

Iconic’s new plant to double glove production

04 Apr 2022

Iconic Worldwide Bhd (IWB) will be doubling the production capacity of its new RM200mil Batu Kawan plant by the middle of the year.

Group executive director James Tan said the plant will be able to produce 300 million pieces of nitrile gloves per month compared to 150 million per month presently.

“In June, the six new production lines installed earlier this year will start operations,” he told StarBiz.

At the moment, Tan said the company had bookings for 200 million pieces per month for its nitrile gloves, which will be gradually exported to the United States, Africa, Hong Kong and Europe every month.

“This year, we will ship out about 3.6 billion pieces of nitrile gloves with a value of over RM400mil,” he said.

The group will produce Covid-19 test kits in the fourth quarter, serving as an original equipment manufacturer for a US brand name.

“The target is to manufacture one million test kits monthly for the local market.

“The value of the output is about RM7mil,” said Tan.

He said the group’s face masks, gloves and test kit business would generate about 50% of the group’s revenue in 2022.

“We have been getting solid inquiries for these products from Europe and the US.

“We expect the healthcare sector to restock in the second half.

“Currently, the monthly face mask output is about 20 million pieces and it is expected to increase at a 20% rate monthly,” he said.

Tan said the face mask, glove and test kit business would contribute 80% of the group’s revenue next year.

“We are currently producing 220 million pieces of face masks per annum with a value of RM100mil for the local market,” he added.

Tan said analysts predict the global nitrile glove market to reach US$20bil (RM84bil) by 2030.

“The food and beverage and healthcare sectors are the main drivers of the demand,” he said.

Tan said the price of nitrile, an essential raw material for gloves, dropped from US$4,000 (RM16,838) per tonne a year ago to about US$1,100 (RM4,630) per tonne currently.

The group’s RM130mil Iconic Point commercial project in Juru will generate the remaining 50% of its 2022 revenue.

“The RM130mil gross development value (GDV) will materialise in the first half of 2022.

“We have achieved about 80% of the GDV in the 2022 financial year accounts,” Tan said.

IWB owns 50 acres of land in Johor, Melaka, Port Dickson and Penang.

“We plan to build residential and commercial projects for the land bank,” said Tan.

The group plans to launch 700 units of affordable housing and commercial shop lots with a RM250mil GDV in Bukit Mertajam in 2022.

“We will build high-rise units priced between RM200,000 and RM400,000.

“In 2023, the property division’s contribution will drop to 20%,” Tan said.

He said the group wants to acquire more land bank in Seberang Prai and on Penang island for its property business.

For its third quarter ended Dec 31, 2021, IWB’s net profit rose to RM4.68mil from RM3.28mil in the previous corresponding period, while revenue improved to RM20.88mil from RM16.97mil a year earlier.

For the nine-month period ended Dec 31, 2021, IWB’s net profit grew to RM11.81mil from RM7.58mil in the previous corresponding period, while revenue increased to RM58.46mil from RM33.43mil previously.

The group’s earnings were bolstered by higher contributions from its property development and manufacturing segments.

Source: The Star