Rubber authority plans joint venture for manufacture of medical gloves
The Rubber Authority of Thailand unveiled its plan to partner agricultural institutes and private companies to set up a rubber glove and medical glove factory due to rising demand sparked by the Covid-19 outbreak.
The authority chairman, Praphan Boonyakiat, said that the factory, which will be located in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, will cost Bt500 million with production capacity of 1.8 billion units per year.
Of total global production of 228 billion units per year, Malaysia accounts for136 billion. Thailand produces over 46 billion units of rubber gloves per year.
He added that the state agency had yet to finalise the proportion of shareholdings of partners in the joint venture. The state agency has a research and development budget of Bt400 million per year.
He believes Thai consumers' use of gloves, face masks and health products will become a new normal in the post-Covid-19 era.
The state agency is also conducting a feasibility study to set up a Rubber Valley as a hub of integrated rubber production. It will bet set up at its land plot in Nakhon Si Thammarat.
