Construction begins on nitrile glove plant in London
Personal-protective equipment manufacturer AMD Medicom Inc. has broken ground on construction of what will become the first facility to manufacture nitrile gloves outside Asia.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the facility took place in London on April 26. The project sees the construction of a 120,000-square foot building that will be run by a new subsidiary company, Manikheir Canada Inc.
Nitrile gloves are essential pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers.
Medicom says the expansion has been made possible in part because of a partnership with the Ontario government, which sees the province commit to purchasing 500 million locally manufactured nitrile medical examination gloves per year for its healthcare system.
Officials from the company and from the province were on hand at the ceremony.
“Building this nitrile glove manufacturing facility in London means we will be ready to respond to future emergencies without having to rely on uncertain foreign supply,” said Ross Romano, minister of government and consumer services. “On top of protecting the safety of Ontarians, we’re growing our economy by supporting domestic businesses and creating hundreds of good manufacturing jobs for our workers.”
“Today marks the start of an important new chapter in Medicom’s history,” said Medicom Founder and CEO Ronald Reuben. “After opening a surgical mask and N95 respirator plant and announcing a new facility to produce the raw materials needed to make them in Quebec, we are very proud to hit another milestone—this time for nitrile gloves—by expanding our Canadian production to the industrial centre of the country, Ontario. This move will help secure the supply of this critical medical resource for hospitals in Ontario and the rest of Canada.”
Once fully operational, Manikheir Canada is expected to create 145 direct jobs and several hundred indirect jobs in the London area. It will also help create or maintain over 1,000 construction-related jobs during the facility set-up phase. The new plant represents an initial investment of over $120 million and will ultimately produce more than one billion nitrile gloves each year.
It is expected to open in 2023, with completion of the first order of gloves by spring 2024.
“Along with masks and N95s, gloves were one of the most difficult products to find when the pandemic broke out more than two years ago,” said Medicom North America President John Tourlas. “With this announcement, we are further securing the supply of healthcare systems in Ontario and the rest of Canada with a product that is manufactured entirely locally and in compliance with the highest labour and environmental standards.”