KUALA LUMPUR: Komarkcorp Bhd seems to be benefitting from the US' reluctance to rely on China-made products.
Komarkcorp today said its subsidiary Komark Mask (M) Sdn Bhd had received an order to export 48 million pieces of three-ply medical grade masks for export to the US.
Komark Mask received a letter of intent (LoI) from Poland-based Robayu Corporation for the order, which will be over a 12-month period worth US$4.8 million.
This followed the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) certification received by Komark Mask for its three-ply disposable medical masks.
"What we are seeing in our dealings with overseas and export discussions, is the reluctance to rely on China-made products, due to the leftover angst from the trade war during (President) Donald Trump's regime.
"As such, being locally manufactured in Malaysia, with internationally authenticated registration and certification, and priced attractively to supplant US own manufacturing of N-95 and three-ply masks, we are expecting more export orders to Western economies," said Komarkcorp chief executive officer CJ Koh in a statement.
The LoI is subject to various commercial conditions to be finalised such as logistics, payment terms, deliverables and regulatory export approvals to the US.
The definitive agreement and purchase order is expected to be finalised and confirmed within 60 days with initial delivery slated to be commencing third quarter of the year.
"Due to travel restrictions, we have to compact our production into one factory at this point, but as our export business grows, in order to remain competitive, we will have to mobilise our other silos to cater for regional demand," Koh said.
Komark manufactures the masks at its Balakong plant spanning 150,000 sq feet.
There are immediate plans to revamp its other manufacturing sites in Bangkok (Thailand), Indonesia and Johor to cater for additional output, as the company expects demand to scale higher over the next 12 months.
Komarkcorp has invested in new machines capable of producing children masks and will be submitting for certification approvals to ensure its children masks are of the highest standard possible.
Malaysia has taken the limelight in 2020 with disposable medical supplies like personal protective equipment (PPE), disposable surgical gloves and face masks.
The demand for affordable, good quality and medical grade disposable masks remains buoyant, as the world grapples with the mutating Covid-19 pandemic.