Industrial News Updates
Gurun Poised to be the Automotive Hub
Kedah is positioning Gurun as the automotive hub for northern region of Peninsular Malaysia, expecting a production of some 150,000 cars by 2018. Kedah Industry & Trade Investment, Consumers’ Affairs, and Cooperatives Committee chairman, Datuk Dr Ku Abdul Rahman Ku Ismail said the state expects the output to come from Naza and Green Oranges, which is the franchise holder of the Haval brand vehicles owned by China’s Great Wall Motor. Besides Gurun, Kulim is also rolling out BMW and Mazda vehicles, he said at a media conference after a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Contribution Presentation event organised by Yayasan Tan Sri SM Nasimuddin, Naza Automotive Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, and Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA). Ku Abdul Rahman represented Kedah MenteriBesar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir to officiate the event. Also present were Naza Group of Companies’ Joint Group Executive Chairman, SM Nasaruddin SM Nasimuddin; Naza Group of Companies Deputy Group Executive Chairman, SM Faliq SM Nasimuddin, and NCIA Chief Executive, Datuk Redza Rafiq. Ku Abdul Rahman said the state targets to attract more than RM5 billion in investment for the manufacturing sector this year, adding that a company would invest RM3.9 billion in the Kulim Hi-Tech Park (KHTP) while another major investment of about RM1 billion is expected later in the year. Overall for the first five months of the year, Kedah secured some RM6.3 billion, of which RM2 billion came from the duty-free island of Langkawi. Meanwhile, Naza Automotive Manufacturing Sdn Bhd’s Chief Operating Officer Roslan Abdul Ghani said the company expects to increase its production by 30% next year to 20,000 units from some 16,000 units this year, including six new models for Kia, Citroen, and Peugeot. 
Sempermed Builds New Glove Factory in Malaysia – Largest Investment Ever Made by Semperit
Austria’s Semperit AG Holding, a leading global manufacturer of medical and industrial gloves, is set to invest RM220 million to build a new plant in Kamunting, Perak to raise its production capacity. The Semperit Group is expanding production capacity at the Kamunting, Malaysia site of its Sempermed segment. A total of about EUR 50 million (MYR 220 million) will be invested in the period 2014 – 2016 to build a new glove factory. This is the largest investment in capacity increase ever made in the history of Semperit. Construction of the new facility will take place on the premises of the Kamunting plant, where Semperit has been operating six production facilities for medical and protective gloves since its acquisition of Latexx Partners Berhad in 2012. The first gloves are expected to leave the production lines starting in the middle of 2015, with the entire project scheduled for completion at the end of 2016. Next step in the growth strategy “The integration of Latexx Partners into the Sempermed segment was successfully concluded last year. The capacity expansion drive at Latexx Partners will enable us to strengthen our position on the global glove market and move a decisive step closer towards achieving our designated growth targets”, says Thomas Fahnemann, Chief Executive Officer of Semperit AG Holding. “We can only reach this goal by offering competitive production costs. For this reason, the new facility will deploy state-of-the-art technologies as the basis for a high level of automation and the optimal use of natural resources. It will be one of the world’s most efficient manufacturing plants for nitrile gloves”, CEO Fahnemann continues. Production speed will be significantly increased compared to the performance of existing factories. The new facility will also boast 50% lower gas consumption, and electricity needs will be about 20% less than for conventional glove manufacturing technologies. The new investments will lay the groundwork for Sempermed to continue its expansion path on the growth market for examination gloves featuring an increase in demand of about 5-7% annually. |
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