Top Glove was responding to enquries on how much savings Top Glove will derive from the deferment of its planned glove output capacity expansion and how the company will use the money which was originally set aside for glove output capacity expansion. Top Glove however did not specify how much savings it will derive from the deferment of its planned glove output capacity expansion. According to Top Glove's output capacity expansion chart in its corporate presentation, the manufacturer's annual glove output capacity stood at 90 billion pieces in December 2020 before growing to 100 billion pieces in December 2021. The figure is expected to be maintained at 100 billion pieces by end 2022, according to Top Glove, which had earlier planned to expand its annual glove output capacity to 156 billion pieces by December 2025. Looking ahead, Top Glove's proposed glove output capacity expansion is unlikely to materialise based on current forecasts as the manufacturer aligns its capacity expansion with global glove demand and supply at a time when Covid-19 concerns have eased due to vaccination progress.

“I don’t say this is not a concern, but still this is an open market. The government will try as much as possible to leave it to the open market and not overly interfere in that. Malaysia’s export ban on chicken is in its fourth week and Singapore is Malaysia's largest chicken importer, accounting for almost 98% of chicken supply. On June 1, the government instituted a ban on chicken exports to ensure supply for domestic consumption remains stable. However, the Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry on June 15 allowed the export of live “kampung" chicken, black chicken, all chicken-based products and day-old chicks parent stocks.

CLICK TO ENLARGEPETALING JAYA: A staggering 18 people were declared bankrupt every day in the first five months of 2022, the Insolvency Department has revealed. Its data, posted on its website, showed that between January and May, 2,694 persons were declared bankrupt, bringing the number of bankruptcies in the country to 274,628. ALSO READ: Look before you leap into debtsNearly 60% of those who were declared bankrupt from 2018 until May this year were between 25 and 44 years old. Another alarming fact is that more than 200 of those declared bankrupt since 2018 were aged 25 or younger. Commenting on the data, consumer financial expert Prof Dr Mohamad Fazli Sabri said having 18 people declared bankrupt every day was alarming even though the number might be far lower than previous years.

KUCHING: The locations for seven new border control posts for the General Operations Force (GOF) in Sarawak will be finalised in the near future, says Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani. He said police had also obtained the views of Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg to get mutual agreement on the locations of the posts along the Sarawak-Kalimantan border. According to him, the allocation to build the new border control posts has also been approved by the government and it should be spent this year. On the strength of police personnel in Sarawak, he said a new GOF Battalion in Sri Aman will be created to strengthen control in the state. Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said that it would be done by end of the year.

(June 22): Oil prices tumbled on Wednesday on news of a plan by US President Joe Biden to cut fuel costs for drivers and amid concerns over a potential economic recession after recent Central Bank rate hikes, which also weighed on equities. Oil prices often move in tandem with stocks, which also took a hit as investors assessed how interest rate hikes designed to cool soaring inflation might stall an economic recovery as pandemic restrictions have eased. Commerzbank's commodities analyst Carsten Fritsch said, if successful, the tax cut would likely "support prices by stimulating demand for gasoline". Chevron CEO Michael Wirth said criticising the oil industry was not the way to bring down fuel prices and that the government had to change its approach. Meanwhile, US oil refining capacity fell in 2021 for the second year in a row, government data showed.

"We discovered that wealth lies in rural India, and we reached out to the wider market base," he said, referencing the shampoo sachets. By the turn of the century, nearly 70% of all shampoo sold in India came in sachets, academic C.K. Now, 855 billion plastic sachets are sold every year, enough to cover the entire surface of Earth, according to London-based environmental group A Plastic Planet. Critics say companies charge the poor a premium because products sold this way are more expensive by volume than bigger packages. Often sold in countries without proper waste collection, these single-use sachets end up as litter, clogging waterways and harming wildlife.

KUALA LUMPUR (June 22): There is growing pressure on Bank Negara Malaysia to hike rates faster in the face of an aggressive US Federal Reserve, and widening consensus that global food and energy prices will continue to stay elevated for longer, with any potential supply shocks seen capable of driving prices and inflation even higher. "Rate hikes would then also need to be sharper and more abrupt in that scenario. There may also be a need to act faster now in order to have sufficient policy buffers in preparation for the next recession (when it happens). But it has also acknowledged that the negative output gap, a potential indicator of rate adjustments, was closing faster than projected, the economists said. “Should these price revisions materialise, it will further intensify the second-round effects of inflation,” the economists said.

KUALA LUMPUR (June 22): Maybank Investment Bank Bhd (Maybank IB) foresees unnecessary issues over the next nine months in the automotive sector with a rise in speculative bookings until end-June 2022 followed by cancellations until end-March 2023. In a research note on Wednesday, analyst Liaw Thong Jung said the bank also foresees the situation to give rise to issues involving salesmen and dealers over the next nine months. He said the speculative bookings will rise over the next 10 days. This would result in a weaker 2H22 for the sector and a strong first quarter for 2023, the report said. Without the waiver, collections from excise and import duties would likely be lower due to lower car sales.

We were at a water hole in the central Serengeti National Park watching hippos bask in mud. My travelling mates, becoming a bit bored, and I were hoping the hippos at least yawned or squirmed or otherwise interacted. We ended up at another nearby water hole where, low and behold, a pride of lions milled about, including several active cubs. We decided this was a great scene that deserved patience (Photo 1). We hung out at this water hole for about half an hour or more until the pride moved on.

KUALA LUMPUR (June 22): Mestron Holdings Bhd has secured a total of RM17.5 million worth of orders from telecommunication infrastructure companies since the start of the year, in line with the accelerated implementation of the National Digital Network (JENDELA). In a statement, it said these works were awarded by various companies, including Smartgen Technology Sdn Bhd, Hydro Vista Sdn Bhd and OCK Setia Engineering Sdn Bhd. "It has been a busy year for us as we have won three contracts from three different telecom infrastructure players. He added that the group is aiming to secure another RM20 million worth of contracts over the next six months, which will be supported by the 5G network roll-out. Mestron was up 0.5 sen or 1.49% to 34 sen at the noon market break, which translates into a market capitalisation of RM316.4 million.

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit retracted from yesterday's gains to open lower against the US dollar this morning, as investors continue to seek shelter in the safe-haven currency, a dealer said. At 9.20 am, the local currency fell to 4.3970/4005 against the greenback from Tuesday's close of 4.3945/3980. Nonetheless, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies. The local note appreciated against the British pound to 5.3894/3937 from Tuesday's close of 5.4035/4078, and rose versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1706/1734 from 3.1738/1768 yesterday. The ringgit also went up against the euro to 4.6217/6254 from 4.6441/6478 and strengthened vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.2281/2309 from 3.2448/2477 previously.

Amid the recent heat wave, flash floods and catastrophic torrents that swept several states at the end of 2021 and early 2022, we experienced the acute impact of climate change. Mitigating the effects of climate change is a very complex exercise involving many instruments of scientific knowledge and information technology, and yet one must harmonise this with sociological understanding and moral reasons. Beyond the planet’s sustainability, the World Economic Forum in 2020 suggested that a country’s response to megatrends, such as tech breakthroughs and the risks of climate change, can dictate its long-term success. Then we corralled electrical engineers to design the sensor system and we piped in the physicists to design the optic system. The concept of “intergenerational justice” was first said to have been deliberated at the Paris Agreement in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2016.

Market sentiment aside, judging by the current landscape of the oil refining industry, Hengyuan's earnings prospects are likely to be rosy in the coming quarters, if not longer. Singapore Dubai FCC Refinery Margin (Singapore crude oil refining margin data) surged to US$33.38 per barrel as at June 20, up nearly six-fold from US$5.81 on Dec 31, 2021. The margin spread hit an all-time high of US$35.18 early this month. Brent crude oil price stood at US$115.63 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude stood at US$111.85 a barrel as at press time. Year-to-date, Brent crude oil has gained US$37.85 or 49% from US$77.78 a barrel at end-2021, while WTI crude oil has rallied US$39.07 or 54% from US$72.78 a barrel.

KUALA LUMPUR: Economists expect the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to distribute a lower dividend rate for 2022 following a weaker total investment income recorded in the first quarter ended March 31, 2022 (Q1 2022). The pension fund announced today that its total investment income had slipped to RM15.85 billion in Q1 2022, down from RM19.29 billion in Q1 2021, due to a significant decline in worldwide markets. ALSO READ: EPF records lower gross investment income of RM15.85bil for Q1 2022"EPF’s dividend rate is expected to fall in tandem with lower investment income,” Sunway University economics professor Yeah Kim Leng told Bernama when contacted. Last year, the overall EPF dividend performance was supported by a strong rebound in the equity markets, he said. "But 2022 growth is already being downgraded across the world, so investment returns are likely to be lower,” Williams said.

TAYLOR’S University officially launched its volunteer-based reading programme Projek BacaBaca which is sponsored by Mah Sing Foundation to address the learning poverty gap among B40 communities. “Our research has shown that children who are not reading at grade level are more likely to drop out of school as low proficiency in reading means children are unable to use their reading skills to excel in other subjects. “So, our academics and students in the ‘Education for All’ impact lab worked with communities, businesses and nonprofits to address low reading proficiency among B40 students. How you can participateAnybody who wants to join the bid to elevate reading proficiency among Malaysian students can sign up as reading coaches. For those who are interested in becoming a reading coach with Projek BacaBaca, register at https://tinyurl.com/2b27s35r.