Top Glove

Top Glove is a Malaysian rubber glove manufacturer who also specialises in face masks, condoms, dental dams, and other products.[1] The company owns and operates 45 manufacturing facilities in Malaysia, Thailand, China, and Vietnam. It also has marketing offices in these countries (except Vietnam) as well as the United States, Germany, and Brazil.[2]

Top Glove Corporation Bhd
Publicly traded company
Traded asMYX: 7113
ISINMYL7113OO003
IndustryRubber
Founded1991
FounderLim Wee-Chai
HeadquartersSetia Alam, Malaysia
Number of locations
45 (as at June 2020)
Key people
Tan Sri Dr Lim Wee-Chai, Executive Chairman

Dato Lee Kim Meow, Managing Director

Mr Lim Cheong Guan, Executive Director
ProductsRubber gloves
Number of employees
20,000
Websitewww.topglove.com

History

The company was founded in Malaysia in 1991 by Tan Sri Dr Lim Wee Chai, with one production line and staff comprising 100 people. Wee Chai's parents are rubber plantation owners and traders. Top Glove has since become the world's largest manufacturer of gloves, commanding 26% of the world market share.[3][4]

Top Glove was listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (now Bursa Malaysia) in August 2001.[5] In the span of a year, Top Glove Corporation Bhd's listing was promoted from the Second Board to the Main Board on May 16, 2002.[6][7]

On 28 June 2016, Top Glove was also listed at No.9[8] on the Mainboard of the Singapore Exchange.[7][9]

In 2017, Top Glove announced that they would launch a new condom business in 2018 with a RM30 million (US$7 million) investment.[10]

At 19 March 2020, Top Glove had a shareholder fund of RM2.6 billion[11] and an annual turnover of about RM2.4 billion.

As of 30 March 2020, Top Glove has 700 production lines, 45 factories,[12] 195 countries of export and 2,000 customers.[11]

In April 2018, Top Glove concluded its acquisition of leading surgical glovemaker, Aspion Sdn Bhd, its biggest M&A to date, which would see Top Glove emerging as the world's largest surgical glove manufacturer.[13]

In April 2020, the company announced that it would manufacture face masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[14]

Entrance to Top Glove Tower

Controversies

Labour controversies

In December 2018, The Guardian reported that migrant workers were being allegedly subjected to forced labour, forced overtime, debt bondage, withheld wages and passport confiscation.[15] The company has denied these allegations and claimed that it has since improved its labour initiatives, which include the introduction of a zero cost recruitment policy.[16]

An investigation by Channel 4 News in June 2020 found that staff were living in cramped conditions, paid £1.08 an hour, forced to work overtime to meet the demand for gloves during the COVID-19 pandemic, and could not adequately practice social distancing despite the company claiming appropriate measures were taken. Workers, many of whom were migrants, also claimed they paid up to $5000 in recruitment fees to secure employment, leaving them in debt bondage.[17] Top Glove did not address any specific claims but called the investigation inaccurate.[18]

US Customs product sanction and detention

In 15 July 2020, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) placed a detention order on imports of products made by subsidiaries of Top Glove for labour issues over debt bondage of its foreign workers and poor housing.[19][20] In response, Top Glove pledged to improve housing for their workers and remove the debt bondage of its workers in an effort to lift the ban.[21][22]

References
  1. "Top Glove Products - Overview". Top Glove. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  2. "Our Locations". Top Glove. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  3. "#1613 Lim Wee Chai". Forbes. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  4. "About Us". Top Glove Malaysia. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  5. "Announcement details". Bursa Malaysia. 8 August 2001. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  6. "TOPGLOV - Transfer from the Second Board to the Main Board of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange". Bursa Malaysia. 13 May 2002. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  7. "Other Corporate Information". Top Glove. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  8. Chun Wai, Wai (26 July 2020). "Billionaire behind Top Glove is going places no Malaysian tycoons have". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  9. "Top Glove, Riverstone & UG Healthcare Report Quarterly Earnings". SGX. 4 June 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  10. "Top Glove to kick off condom business next year". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  11. "Corporate Profile". Top Glove. 8 August 2020. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  12. "Top Glove now third largest stock on Bursa Malaysia". Malay Mail. 13 July 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  13. "Not all gloom and doom for Top Glove". The Star. 14 July 2018. Archived from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  14. Regencia, Ted; Stepansky, Joseph (10 April 2020). "Coronavirus deaths rise but signs of progress seen: Live updates". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  15. Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (9 December 2018). "NHS rubber gloves made in Malaysian factories linked with forced labour". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  16. Chua, Gigi (14 December 2018). "Top Glove denies forced labour allegations". The Edge. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  17. Channel 4 News Investigations Team (16 June 2020). "Revealed: Shocking conditions in PPE factories supplying UK". Channel 4. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  18. FMT Reporters (18 June 2020). "FMT: Top Glove denies worker exploitation claims in British TV Report". FMT. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  19. "Withhold Release Orders and Findings". U.S. Customs & Border Protection. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  20. "Amid virus crisis, U.S. bars imports of Malaysia's Top Glove over labour issues". Reuters. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  21. "Racing to reverse US ban, Top Glove improves workers' housing". The Edge Markets. 11 August 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  22. "Top Glove still resolving US ban, remediation fee now at RM53m". The Edge Markets. 10 August 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
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