Rays take rubber match from Dodgers

St. Petersburg, FL - Ty Wigginton went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, two runs batted in and a pair of runs scored as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-4, in the finale of a three-game interleague set at Tropicana Field.

Carl Crawford chipped in with a two-run double and Delmon Young knocked in a pair for the Rays, who have won two straight on the heels of a three-game skid.

Edwin Jackson (1-8) pitched a solid six innings, allowing two runs on nine hits. The right-hander struck out a pair and walked a batter. It was the veteran's first major league win since September 26, 2005 when he was a member of the Dodgers and won a 9-4 decision against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

'It's great,' Jackson said about the win. 'Can't get too comfortable, but at the same time enjoy it...It takes a team effort to get the win and that's what we got.'

Luis Gonzalez and James Loney each hit two-run homers for the Dodgers, who have lost two straight and three of their last five.

Hong-Chih Kuo (1-3) took the loss, giving up three runs on four hits while striking out eight and walking one in 5 1/3 innings.

Dodgers reliever Joe Beimel, who came in for the seventh inning, allowed five runs on four hits and committed an error without recording an out.

The Rays posted a pair of runs against Kuo in the sixth to snap a 2-2 tie. Brendan Harris led off with a double down the left field line and after Crawford struck out, the Dodgers brought in Rudy Seanez from the bullpen. Wigginton greeted the veteran righty with a ground single to left and the throw from Gonzalez appeared to beat Harris, but Dodgers catcher Mike Lieberthal couldn't hang on to the ball and it skipped into the Tampa dugout allowing Wigginton to advance to third. After Young went down on strikes, Wigginton scored on a wild pitch to give the home team a 4-2 lead.

Tampa broke the game open in the seventh, scoring five times against Beimel. Dioner Navarro and Josh Wilson hit consecutive singles to start the frame and Akinori Iwamura dropped a sacrifice bunt that was fielded by Beimel. The Dodgers lefty attempted to nail the lead runner at third, but threw wide, allowing the fifth Devil Rays run to score. A run-scoring single by Harris, two-run double by Crawford and an RBI base hit by Young against Brett Tomko made it a 9-2 game.

'This is always a tough place to come in and play,' Gonzalez said. 'When it's close late they (Devil Rays) feel like they have a chance to win. We were right there and they exploded for five.'
Loney hit a two-run homer in the ninth to account for the final margin.

The Dodgers got off to a quick start, jumping on Jackson for a pair of runs in the first inning. Rafael Furcal and Juan Pierre hit back-to-back singles to start the contest, but Russell Martin followed by grounding into a 5-4-3 double play with Furcal advancing to third. It appeared the Tampa right-hander was going to get out of trouble, but he hung a pitch to Gonzalez, who hammered a two-run homer to dead center field to give the Dodgers the early advantage.
Wigginton's solo home run to left-center field to lead off the second inning cut the Rays deficit to 2-1.

Tampa tied the contest in the fourth when Crawford got things going with a one out single and Wigginton drew a walk. Young then hit a run-scoring single to knot the game.

Game Notes

Attendance was 18,248...Tampa will host the Chicago White Sox in a four-game series starting Monday night, while the Dodgers head to Arizona to begin a four-game set versus the Diamondbacks on Monday...The Devil Rays ended interleague play with a 7-11 record this season, while the Dodgers compiled a 5-10 mark.

Source : http://sport.monstersandcritics.com/mlb/article_1321921.php/Rays_take_rubber_match_from_Dodgers

More M&As among rubber glove players

The number of companies to be reduced to 10 from 40 now

By Hanim Adnan

THE highly competitive rubber gloves industry in Malaysia is set for consolidation following a trend in the region for such a move, particularly in Indonesia and Thailand.

Industry observers contacted by StarBiz believe that the number of players would be reduced to between 10 and 15 strong companies in Malaysia from 40 currently.

They concur that manufacturers with capacity of less than one billion gloves per year would either close down or be acquired by the larger and stronger players.

Smaller manufacturers are facing stiff competition and higher operational costs given the volatile latex prices over the past two years, which had surged by almost 30%.

Lim Kuang SiaIn the first six months of this year, latex prices were traded within the RM3.70 to RM5.90 per kg range. Last year, the average latex price was RM5.50 per kg from RM3.30 in 2005.

“There will be more mergers and acquisitions (M&As) within the industry this year. Even after the last consolidation in the mid-2000, there are many smaller players in the region that are willing to sell their businesses to cut losses,” said a prominent industry player.

Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers' Association said local rubber glove makers registered with the association has been reduced to about 40 members from 50 a year ago.

The boom in the local rubber glove industry started in the early 1990s with over 350 manufacturers in operation after the world was spooked by the outbreak of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome in the late 1980s.

The number of players had been reduced to 130 in the mid-1990s. The industry consolidated further after the Asian financial crisis in mid-1997 to 1998.

To-date, three of the world's largest rubber glove manufacturers are home-grown, namely Top Glove Corp Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd and Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd.

Supermax group managing director Datuk Seri Stanley Thai told StarBiz that the conditions in the market would remain competitive despite the overall bullish outlook for the rubber glove industry.

“The survivors will continue to benefit from the increase in the demand for rubber gloves,” he added.

Despite the shrinking number of players in Malaysia and regionally, analysts forecast that the global demand for rubber gloves would register growth of about 10% to 12% annually.

Stanley ThaiThe global demand for rubber gloves this year is estimated at 120 billion pieces, which is a far cry from the 12 billion pieces per annum in 1989.

Malaysia is the world's largest rubber glove producer supplying about 60% to the global market, followed by Thailand 25%, Indonesia 10% and others 5%.

Thai said: “Glove prices are determined by the supply and demand factor, volatility in latex concentrate prices as well as the fluctuation of the ringgit against the US dollar.”

On M&As, Thai said: “We are reaping the fruit of our labour and hard work on M&As.”

He said the group took a big leap in 2005 by acquiring two listed glove companies - APL Industries Bhd and Seal Polymer Industries Bhd - and that had helped to transform Supermax into a stronger and earnings accretive company.

Supermax is believed to be the first company which started the industry's M&As in 2003 through its acquisition of a US-based company operating in Malacca.

Thai noted that competition was “not so much from the overseas players but rather from the domestic players.”

He claims that low quality products and massive adulteration of NR latex glove formulation churned out by mass players was a major concern to the industry.

“This will tarnish the reputation of Made-In-Malaysia rubber gloves in the global market,” Thai added.

Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd managing director Lim Kuang Sia concur that more M&As would be in the offing within the industry both in Malaysia and regionally.

“We are looking at M&As as our new growth strategy. We know of at least two small players in Malaysia as well as some in Thailand and Indonesia that are preparing to exit,” he said.

Despite the consolidation, Lim said local glove manufacturers would continue to have a competitive edge and advantage over their regional counterparts in Thailand and Indonesia.

Rubber gloves undergoing inspection in a factory in Sungei BulohMalaysia has managed to gain competitive advantage due to greater labour productivity.

Each worker in the rubber gloves industry in Malaysia is estimated to be nearly three times more productive compared to Thailand and twice to Indonesian workers.

In addition, proximity to ports and raw material - latex - also translate into lower transportation costs compared to the neighbouring countries.

Malaysia also still has lower energy costs at 23.8 sen per kilowatt (kWh).

On the impact of the ringgit strengthening against the US dollar, Lim said: “Malaysian rubber glove makers must view the strengthening of ringgit in comparison to the baht since Thai glove makers are the major competitors for Malaysia.”

While the Malaysian ringgit has appreciated by 9.5% since end-2005, baht has appreciated by a stronger 21.1%.

On a relative basis, he said Malaysian rubber glove makers would remain competitive.

Singapore-based Riverstone Holdings Ltd executive chairman and chief executive officer Wong Tek Son said: “We believe a number of smaller manufacturers are prepared to exit the business due to tough competition. Latex examination glove manufacturers depend on volume to sustain.”

The company would not compete in the standard examination glove market as it specialises in the high-tech clean room glove business.

“We are looking to acquire high-quality glove manufacturers. We do not intend to compete in the volume game but rather in value added glove that can provide the competitive edge,” Wong said.

He said competitions would be among the local players and not abroad. “Every manufacturer is facing the same problem, therefore it is a fair platform,” he said.

Source : http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/6/25/business/18112938&sec=business