Top Glove scouts Africa for new rubber plantation

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The Edge Financial Daily reports, “Top Glove Corp. Bhd. has included Africa as a new growth frontier and is scouting for rubber plantation land in a number of countries there. The proposed move to establish a rubber plantation in Africa is seen as a long-term effort by the company to realize its potential on the continent, which offers a big market for rubber gloves and large tracts of rubber plantation land at attractive prices. Top Glove will follow in the footsteps of U.S.-based Firestone Natural Rubber Co., which has the largest natural rubber operation in the world in Liberia, covering an area of almost 520 sq. km and eight million rubber trees. Firestone, which has been operating in Liberia since 1926, provides high quality rubber and latex to various manufacturers including tire, vital medical components, carpet backing, adhesives, coatings and condoms. Besides Firestone, Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby Bhd. has been in Liberia since the 1980s, operating a rubber estate there. It has announced plans to increase the size of its rubber estates in Liberia to 20,000 hectares in the next few years from just a few thousand hectares currently. The rubber plantation is part of the 220,000 hectares, 63-year concession granted to Sime Darby by the Liberian government to cultivate oil palm in the impoverished nation.”