Producer
Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd
Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd (Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia; KLSE: KOSSAN; ~RM2.5-3B revenue; ~9% global disposable glove market share) is the third-largest Malaysian glove manufacturer, producing both nitrile examination gloves and latex gloves. Kossan also manufactures technical rubber products (O-rings, seals, rubber hoses) for automotive and industrial applications from its Shah Alam and Klang production facilities — a diversification beyond gloves not shared by Top Glove or Hartalega. The technical rubber products segment provided partial revenue insulation when glove prices collapsed post-COVID. Kossan distributes examination gloves globally under the Kossan brand and as private-label for hospital group purchasing organizations.
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Goods downstream
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2 inputs Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd supplies
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Nitrile & Latex Examination Gloves
70%Technical Rubber Products
25%Clean Room & Specialty Gloves
5%
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Did you know2023
Kossan Rubber Industries makes disposable examination gloves for the global healthcare supply chain AND rubber seals, O-rings, and hoses for the global automotive supply chain from the same Shah Alam, Selangor manufacturing complex. The nitrile rubber chemistry that produces the examination glove a doctor wears to examine a patient also produces the O-ring seals in a Toyota Camry's fuel system. Kossan is one of the only glove manufacturers that maintains meaningful production scale in both healthcare PPE and automotive industrial rubber — a deliberate diversification that most Malaysian glove makers abandoned as the glove market grew. When automotive production slumped (as during the COVID-related chip shortage that reduced auto production in 2021-2022), Kossan's glove revenue was surging. When glove prices collapsed (2022-2023), automotive production was recovering and O-ring demand strengthened. The same Shah Alam factory hedges the healthcare and automotive supply chains against each other — providing a natural business cycle buffer that pure-play glove manufacturers cannot achieve.
Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd ↗Origin2023
Kossan Rubber Industries was founded in 1979 in Shah Alam, Selangor — the same industrial district that became the heartland of Malaysia's glove industry. Unlike Top Glove (founded in 1991 specifically targeting the glove market from the start) and Hartalega (which made a technological bet on premium nitrile), Kossan began as a general rubber products manufacturer making technical rubber components: O-rings, seals, and rubber hoses for industrial and automotive applications. The glove business grew alongside the technical rubber business rather than replacing it — giving Kossan a revenue diversification that its larger Malaysian competitors lacked. This diversification proved valuable when COVID-era glove demand collapsed in 2022-2023: while Top Glove and Hartalega saw revenues decline 70%+, Kossan's technical rubber products segment — making O-rings for automotive assembly, seals for industrial equipment — provided partial insulation. A company that started making rubber seals for Malaysian manufacturing built one of the world's largest glove production businesses alongside its original industrial product line without ever abandoning either.
Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd ↗