Producer
Synthomer plc
Synthomer plc (London UK; LSE: SYNT; ~£2B revenue) is the dominant NBR latex supplier to Malaysia-based nitrile glove manufacturers — the most important single buyer segment globally. Synthomer's Kluang plant in Johor, Malaysia is co-located within the Malaysian glove manufacturing cluster, making it the lowest-logistics-cost NBR latex supplier for Top Glove, Hartalega, Kossan Rubber, and Supermax. Synthomer acquired Omnova Solutions (US, 2020) and Synthomer's latex division has deep application engineering relationships with the Big Four Malaysian glove makers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Synthomer's revenues and profit margins surged as NBR latex demand rose 250%+. The 2022 glove market crash caused severe destocking; Synthomer's share price fell ~75% from its 2021 peak as glove makers worked through inventory.
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Stories
What they make
1 input Synthomer plc supplies
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Business segments
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Nitrile (NBR) Latex for Gloves
45%Functional Solutions (OMNOVA)
25%Performance Elastomers
20%Coatings & Adhesives Binders
10%
Intelligence
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Concentration2024
Synthomer plc's business model created an extraordinary single-customer-segment concentration: at the peak in 2021, the Malaysian glove sector accounted for approximately 60% of Synthomer's total group revenue. This meant that the UK-listed, London-headquartered Synthomer had its financial fate tied to four companies in Selangor, Malaysia — Top Glove, Hartalega, Kossan Rubber, and Supermax. When the glove bubble burst in 2022, Synthomer's EBITDA fell from £570M (2021) to a £250M loss (2022) — a £820M swing driven almost entirely by glove sector destocking. Synthomer's near-collapse demonstrated that NBR latex supply concentration risk cuts both ways: the supplier is as vulnerable to glove market shocks as the glove makers are to NBR latex supply shocks.
Synthomer plc ↗Origin2023
Synthomer traces to International Synthetic Rubber Company Ltd. (ISR), established in the UK in 1951 as part of the postwar British effort to build domestic synthetic rubber capacity independent of natural rubber from the former colonial Southeast Asian rubber plantations. Over five decades, the company passed through multiple ownership structures and rebranding cycles, emerging as Synthomer in the early 2000s. The strategic decision that defined Synthomer's modern position was building a production plant in Kluang, Johor, Malaysia — precisely co-located within the Malaysian rubber glove manufacturing cluster where Top Glove, Hartalega, Kossan, and Supermax produce roughly 65% of the world's examination gloves. By producing NBR latex within the same Malaysian industrial district as its largest customers, Synthomer eliminated ocean freight logistics for the heaviest-volume product in its portfolio. During COVID-19, this geographic positioning made Synthomer the lowest-cost and most reliable NBR latex supplier to a glove industry experiencing 250%+ demand surge. The 2020 acquisition of OMNOVA Solutions (US) added paper/carpet/construction latex applications, but the core identity remains a British latex company that built its competitive advantage by moving to Malaysia.
Synthomer plc ↗