Industrial-Gloves Market Expected to Reach $9.7 Billion by 2020

According to a report by Allied Market Research titled World Industrial Gloves Market — Opportunities and Forecast, 2014-2020, global sales of industrial gloves will reach US$9.7 billion by 2020, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.8 per cent from 2015 to 2020.

The disposable-gloves segment of the industrial gloves marked accounted for over half of the market revenue in 2014 and should retain its lead throughout the analysis period. The Asia-Pacific market will exhibit the highest CAGR during the forecast period, both in terms of volume and revenue, the report predicts.

The world industrial-gloves market is transitioning to novel glove materials such as nitrile, vinyl, neoprene and polyethylene. The shift can be attributed to the allergic reactions caused by latex gloves and superior resistivity and protection properties offered by novel materials.

Reusable industrial gloves are deployed as personal protective equipment in various industries, including the automotive, food, chemical and healthcare sectors, to ensure safety and sanity in workplaces. The onslaught of threats to the personnel and consequent work-safety awareness, the rapidly growing food-processing industry and rising demand for high-dexterity gloves are the factors fuelling the market growth.

The recent introduction of advanced manufacturing techniques, such as the use of fillers, polyurethane coatings and thermal gravimetric analysis, has given rise to cost-effective reusable gloves, thereby supplementing the market growth.

Disposable industrial gloves are mainly used to prevent cross-contamination between industrial personnel and products. Disposable industrial gloves are preferred across various industries, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, food and healthcare.

Eco-friendliness, affordable cost, high degree of flexibility and sterility of disposable industrial gloves should supplement the market growth. In addition, the outbreak of epidemics such as swine flu and Ebola, among others, will further boost the market growth. Conversely, unstable raw material prices and the use of robotics in manufacturing should limit the market growth of industrial gloves.

The machinery end-user segment will continue to lead the global reusable-industrial-gloves market throughout the forecast period. The mechanical protection provided by knitted gloves is the prime reason attributed to sustained dominance of the machinery end-use segment. On the contrary, the semiconductors end-use segment was the highest revenue-generator in 2014.

Key findings of the study include the following:

— Supported knitted gloves dominated the reusable-industrial-gloves market, accounting for about 50 per cent market revenue in 2014;
— The food-processing end-use segment is identified as the most lucrative segment in the world disposable-industrial-gloves market;
— The general-purpose/mechanical-protection gloves segment was the highest-revenue-generating segment in 2014;
— The natural-rubber-gloves segment will continue to lead the world disposable-industrial-gloves market;
— The polyethylene-gloves segment is projected to exhibit the highest CAGR, 14.9 per cent, in terms of volume; and
— North America and Europe collectively accounted for around three-quarters of the world industrial-gloves-market revenue in 2014.

North America was the highest-revenue-generating region in 2014, owing to stringent work-safety regulations associated with industrial manufacturing. However, the Asia-Pacific region should exhibit the fastest growth in the reusable-industrial-gloves market over the forecast period, owing to the shift of the manufacturing base to emerging economies of the region.

The key companies profiled in the report are Honeywell International Inc., SHOWA Inc, Ansell Healthcare, Superior Glove, Shamrock Manufacturing Company Inc., Towa Corporation, Hartalega Holdings Berhad, Rubberex, Top Glove Corporation Berhad and Semperit AG Holding.

For detail on the report, visit www.alliedmarketresearch.com.

Bill Roebuck is a former editor and associate publisher of Machinery and Equipment MRO magazine and MROmagazine.com.