Malaysia, the world’s top rubber glove producer, expects to export 225 billion units worth some MYR 20 billion this year, up from 170 billion units valued at MYR 17.3 billion last year.

Rubber exports in the first three months of this year declined sharply as a result of tightened measures at border checkpoints to prevent the outbreak of the Covid-19 disease, plantation owners and exporters have said.

Lubrizol announced a USD 2 million donation commitment to support COVID-19 needs globally. This pledge extends the work the company is already doing as companies across the globe leverage Lubrizol’s science for hand sanitizers, medical gowns, face masks, drug products, medical devices, transport vehicles and countless other applications.

The Plastics Industry Association (Plastics) announced three new executive appointments: Glenn Anderson, vice president, industry relations and member engagement as of 6 April 2020, Matt Seaholm, vice president of government affairs, and Brendan Thomas, vice president of advocacy and voice. Both Seaholm's and Thomas' roles took effect on 15 April 2020.

Top Glove Corporation Bhd’s production is running at 100 per cent and hence, it expects to churn out higher volumes of its products as well as increase its average selling price (ASP) as demand surges. Following a conference call between analysts and Top Glove’s management, Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd’s research team (Kenanga Research) said: “The group production floor is running at 100 per cent where 50 per cent of workers are running operation with two shifts. Additionally, the group is raising ASPs by three to five per cent or between USD 0.30 to USD 0.50 per thousand pieces which is not excessive per unit cost.”

The South Korean company Songwon Industrial Co., Ltd. has announced changes to its leadership structure. The Executive Committee will now include six members instead of eight.

The Italian producer of injection moulding machinery Negri Bossi has started an interesting project to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Since Thursday 9 April 2020 the company, located in Cologno Monzese near Milan, has been using two injection machines to produce masks. The masks are entirely made of thermoplastic elastomers. The TPE material for this project is donated by Francesco Franceschetti Elastomeri. At full capacity, the production reaches an extraordinary quantity of 500 masks per hour.

The UK-based company Opus Technical Ltd. announced that it is now helping the fight against Covid-19 by manufacturing full face shields for the National Health Service (NHS). According to Opus, using its state-of-the art 3D printing facilities the company has been able, during this challenging period, to convert some of its manufacture over to helping the NHS in its fight against Covid-19.

Feica, the Association of the European Adhesive and Sealant Industry, announced that amidst the growing threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and after having extensive conversations with many of its members, it has made the difficult decision to cancel the European Adhesive & Sealant Conference and Expo, which had been scheduled for 9 – 11 September 2020 in Warsaw, Poland.

According to the OCSiAl Group, nanotechnology is able to unlock thousands of hectares of land previously restricted for wind farm construction, increasing the potential for green power generation globally. A recently developed graphene nanotube-modified polymer is a game-changing technology that solves a great challenge of the renewable energy industry – wind farm radar interference.