The glove sector is about to rebound as post-pandemic inventory overhang eases

Glove producers are seeing brighter days ahead as the overstocking of healthcare gloves in the market during the pandemic works itself down.

To recall, an estimated 131b pieces of gloves were overstocked during the pandemic. To add on, various new entrants made a foray into the sector during the pandemic period to capitalise on the glove boom.Some of these new entrants were then forced to clear inventory and sell their stockpiles at a steep bargain before exiting the market, dragging industry-wide ASPs lower.We think that these excess stocks have shown signs of nearing depletion, given that distributors are now replenishing inventories with a longer lead time of about two months, recovering towards pre-pandemic's 5-6 months average.

Also, gloves have an expiry date of 3 years. So it's about time for customers to replace their stocks.