Glove demand creates path for rubber farmers

Dr Boon Vanasin, owner and chairman of Thonburi Healthcare Group, is embarking on a new business journey by mixing healthcare and agricultural businesses together.

Dr Boon says this cooperative is in many ways a social enterprise business.

He believes the move will be an important step as consumer behaviours change in the wake of the global pandemic.

The outbreak not only awakened people to protection against infections, but it also led businesses to consider healthcare in their offerings.

Dr Boon decided to start a new business as demand for medical products is growing. He joined hands with the rubber plantation fund cooperative under the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry to set up Thai Medical Gloves to produce rubber gloves for medical personnel.

HELP FOR FARMERS

The gloves are not only necessary equipment for doctors and nurses, but they are an important avenue in helping improve the living standard of Thai farmers, who can earn more revenue from selling rubber latex to glove manufacturers.

Dr Boon said the cooperation is aimed at helping rural economies as it is expected to bolster rubber prices and ensure sustainable growth of rubber businesses in the long term.

Rubber prices have fallen since 2017, due largely to oversupply from rubber-producing countries. The sluggish economy later cut demand from the auto industry, further impacting rubber producers.

The situation compelled the Rubber Authority of Thailand to take up ownership of 30% of shares in Thai Medical Gloves, which is chaired by Dr Boon.

Dr Boon expects other rubber cooperatives may follow suit in the future.

Usually Thailand exports rubber latex to neighbouring countries, especially Malaysia, as commodity products, but agricultural officials want to develop them into value-added products and standard medical gloves can be one of them.

"This cooperation is like the social enterprise business as it also supports Thai rubber farmers," said Dr Boon.

Thai Medical Gloves is in talks with four companies from China that have shown interest in expanding their businesses here.

"In the long term," said Dr Boon, "if the glove business grows steadily, I may have Thonburi Healthcare Group be part of the venture."

BRISK BUSINESS

The pandemic is driving demand for gloves in the healthcare industry worldwide and, from an entrepreneurship angle, this is the right time for Thai Medical Gloves to be a key player selling gloves in this bustling atmosphere.

The company decided to spend 18 billion baht acquiring land and building glove production plants, following a six-month discussion on the new cooperation between Dr Boon and agricultural officials.

They plan to operate a total of four plants located on Bang Na-Trat Road, Bang Phra area in Chon Buri and Rayong's Pluak Daeng district.

"The four plants will have a combined capacity of 600 million boxes of gloves a year," said Dr Boon, adding one box contains 100 gloves.

"We aim to export to the US, European countries, India and Brazil."

These regions are hotbeds for the highly contagious virus.

Dr Boon expects two manufacturing plants will be ready to launch the first lots of gloves in February 2021, according to a production time line. They will produce 80 million boxes per year.

Another two have to await installation of imported machinery.

The development is viewed an initiative to allow businesses arising from the outbreak.

"The pandemic is changing many businesses. If we don't adjust ourselves, businesses may come to an end," said Dr Boon.

The Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association estimated global demand for rubber gloves will reach 300 billion pieces this year, with annual growth of 12%.

Malaysia, the world's largest rubber glove producer, contributes nearly 63% of global supply. It has revised its estimated supply to 220 billion pieces in 2020 amid current scenario, which is much higher than previously estimated numbers of 188 billion pieces.

Thailand, Dr Boon said, should increase its global market share of rubber gloves because the country has plenty of rubber latex supplied by rubber plantations, especially from the South.

Thailand holds 13-14% of the global rubber glove market.

The country has the capacity to produce around 10 million tonnes of rubber latex a year. Rubber is supplied as a raw material in many industries, including automotive-related industry and medical businesses.

The rubber glove industry in Thailand is expected to use around 3 million tonnes of latex a year.

"Thailand exports over 80% of this amount to Malaysia and China," said Dr Boon.

ENGINEERING MIX

The establishment of Thai Medical Gloves has lead Dr Boon to come up with an idea to branch out further into the engineering aspect of the medical glove business.

In the future, he plans to supply glove-making machinery to glove factories in Thailand and overseas markets.

"I want to diversify the business into an upstream industry and the glove machinery business is in place," said Dr Boon.

"The production technology is an important factor for other businesses."