KUALA LUMPUR (March 9): Top Glove Corp Bhd expects the majority of its customers in the US to start placing orders from the company by the middle of this year, after the import ban was lifted by the US.

“We have recovered about 80% of our business. Some of the customers have not placed orders with us not because they are not comfortable, they are saying that they still have stocks and they want to bring their stock levels down to a more comfortable level before they start buying again,” he said.

He noted the good thing for Top Glove is it has the option for US customers to get gloves from Thailand due to tax advantages.

“We are confident that over a very short period of time, the customers will come back because we have always worked with them on the concept of consistent quality, competitive costing and from shipment time to them,” he said.

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) imposed a ban on gloves made by Top Glove in July 2020 over forced labour concerns. The ban was lifted 14 months later on Sept 10, 2021.

The US is a major export market for Top Glove, accounting for 25% of its sales volume.

The Edge Markets