Hartalega Holdings Bhd has commissioned four production lines at Plant 6 of its Next Generation Integrated Glove Manufacturing Complex (NGC) to accelerate its production capacity.

The company said construction of the remaining lines is in the pipeline, with the construction of Plant 7 of the NGC also targeted to commence in late 2020.

“Upon completion by the 2022 financial year, our annual installed capacity will increase to 44 billion pieces,” executive chairman Kuan Kam Hon said in the company’s 2020 annual report.

The rubber glove maker also aims to optimise the integration of technological solutions including Industry 4.0 within its business processes and operations.

Kuan said, while hoping that Covid-19 will abate and preventive measures having achieved some progress worldwide, this truly unfortunate situation is expected to persist for the time being.

As this period of heightened demand continues, the company is committed to doing its part to protect those at the frontlines of this epidemic.

As for outlook, Kuan said as the company continues to ramp up capacity, it is cognisant of the fact that the baseline for global demand has shifted and this is expected to be the new normal.

Premised on this, the group’s strategic growth plans are aligned with the anticipated long-term needs of the global healthcare industry.

“As we expand and diversify our market base, this sets the foundation for our next phase of expansion — NGC 2.0.

“Towards this end, during the year, the group has acquired a parcel of land located in Banting, Selangor, totalling approximately 38.44 hectares...this is intended to serve as the future site for NGC 2.0,” he said.

Kuan added that the group’s preliminary plans for NGC 2.0 entailed seven production plants, comprising 82 production lines with an installed capacity of 32 billion pieces of gloves.

The completion of this expansion will bring the group’s total installed capacity to 76 billion pieces per annum.