Kossan (7153)

• Kossan began by specializing in manufacturing cut less bearings for the marine industry in 1979. In 1988, it became one of the first few companies to venture into rubber glove manufacturing
• Fourth largest player in the country with an annual production capacity of 12 billion gloves
• 43% nitrile and  57% natural rubber gloves 
• 12 billion gloves per annum from 169 production lines
• 80% production lines are interchangeable 
• Largest technical rubber product (TRP) operation in Malaysia. Manufacture rubber products engineered to specific needs - for example the seismic bearings for the second Penang bridge.
• Management

CEO

• To meet the rising demand, Kossan has been gradually increasing its capacity while ensuring high utilization of its production lines. The group targets to sell some 11 billion gloves by year-end (year-2012), after selling 5.1 billion in the first half. This works out to a utilization rate of over 90%, compared with the industry average of 60% to 70%.
• Growth

1. Add 350 million in capacity for surgical gloves by October 2012, which more expensive and command higher margins (now 3% of total output)
2. Recently bought a 51% stake in a China-based clean room technology company for US$3 million to manufacture clean room gloves, masks and wipes
3. Expanding upstream, it is presently looking for about 10,000ha of greenfield land to plant rubber in either Indonesia or Myanmar
4. Expand technical rubber product (TRP), which contributes 12% of its revenue. Exploring options in Indonesia to set up a TRP plant there to supply parts for the booming automative industry.
5. Invest over 10 million in automation and reduce dependence on foreign workers to about 50% in a year's time.