Since the outbreak of the new coronavirus pneumonia, the supply of masks has attracted much attention. As a key material in the filtering process of masks, melt-blown cloth can be called the “heart” of medical surgical masks and N95 masks.
Due to the significant increase in the demand for masks recently, the supply of meltblown cloth has also been very tight, and the price has even increased more than ten times. It can be said that “a cloth is hard to find.”
Mask factories have increased the number of melt-blown cloths so much that it is “hard to find”
The reporter saw in the special production and supply and demand area for key medical prevention and control materials established by the State Council that a large number of them have appeared recently. Looking for information about meltblown cloth for mask production, the reporter immediately contacted several mask manufacturers.
The person in charge of a mask manufacturing company in Foshan, Guangdong: Equipment has also arrived. Every day, people call to say whether the masks have been made, but the raw materials (melt-blown cloth) are not in supply, and the production cannot be done at scale, which is also a headache.
The person in charge of a mask manufacturing company in Tianjin: Nowadays, so many mask factories have been built at once, especially during this period, the meltblown cloth suddenly became more nervous.
The contradiction between supply and demand of melt-blown cloth is also directly reflected in the market price. In addition to the government’s designated allocation, the melt-blown cloth on the market The price of cloth has also increased from 20,000 yuan per ton before the epidemic to 300,000 or 400,000 yuan per ton now.
The person in charge of a mask manufacturing company in Foshan, Guangdong: It feels like the price changes every day, with prices of 300,000 to 400,000 yuan (per ton) quoted.
Huang Wensheng, the person in charge of a melt-blown cloth production company in Shandong: The supply exceeds demand, there is a shortage of melt-blown cloth, there are too many mask manufacturers, and the price of masks is high.
The person in charge of the melt-blown cloth manufacturer told reporters that even based on the price of melt-blown cloth of 400,000 yuan per ton, each ordinary mask is melt-blown The cost of cloth is only 0.4 yuan.
Huang Wensheng, the person in charge of a melt-blown cloth production company in Shandong: Normally, melt-blown materials account for 60% of the cost of a mask. Now masks basically cost about 3 yuan each. Melt-blown cloth The cost accounts for more than ten percent.
The reporter learned that the current mask production capacity has increased significantly. From January 1 to February 7 alone, more than 3,000 companies across the country have added new With the mask business out of the equation, a group of new manufacturing companies have no stable supply channels. Market demand and high profits have contributed to the tight supply of meltblown cloth.
The shortage of masks is difficult to change in the short term, and melt-blown cloth has become a stuck link
The shortage of melt-blown cloth has become one of the key factors in the tight supply of masks. How to fill this gap? When will this tense situation be relieved?
As of February 29, the daily output of domestic masks was approximately 116 million, 12 times that of February 1. This shows that the supply of meltblown cloth has increased significantly during this period. However, it has not been able to keep up with the growth of mask production capacity. How to solve this contradiction between supply and demand in the short term?
In Beijing Yanshan Petrochemical, a meltblown cloth production line has just been put into operation, two days ahead of schedule. Staff member Liu Haicheng is debugging various indicators of the product to meet the needs of downstream mask production.
Liu Haicheng, a staff member of the meltblown cloth production line of Sinopec Yanshan Petrochemical: In the future, we will gradually increase the output through corresponding technical means and process adjustments. All (production line) start-up preparation teams are working continuously 24 hours a day.
Liu Haicheng told reporters that the design production capacity of this production line is about 6 tons per day. Based on the production of 1 million ordinary masks per ton of melt-blown cloth, they can produce the raw materials for 6 million masks per day. In addition, their production line also has the production capacity of polypropylene, the raw material of melt-blown cloth, which can quickly meet the needs of continued expansion of melt-blown cloth.
Qu Hongliang, deputy general manager of Sinopec Yanshan Petrochemical: The basic raw materials for the production of melt-blown cloth are not the bottleneck. The output of polypropylene raw materials for melt-blown cloth in one day, This is the 40-day production capacity of our 6-ton meltblown cloth production line per day.
From raw materials to masks, simply speaking, there are four main links: one is polypropylene raw materials; the other is melt-blown materials; the third is melt-blown cloth; and the fourth is mask production.
Sinopec Spokesperson Lu Dapeng: Four links…In the middle, the melt-blown cloth has become a barrier lake and a stuck place.
Experts said that the short-term supply shortage of melt-blown cloth is closely related to the large investment and long construction period of new melt-blown equipment. The investment in the production line of a meltblown cloth factory often costs millions or tens of millions of yuan, and the equipment manufacturing and installation is much more complicated than the mask production equipment.
Li Lingshen, President of the China Industrial Textiles Industry Association: The production line still relies on part of the imports, and the current supporting parts are They all have certain difficulties, so the cycle time for new production lines is 3 to 5 months. Therefore, everyone is not very confident in long-term investment. After all, there will be a lot of idle production capacity after the epidemic.
Melt-blown cloth is in short supply and alternative materials are put into production to stabilize prices
The reporter learned from China National Chemical Corporation that in order to alleviate the current tight supply situation in the melt-blown cloth market, They have recently developed a new alternative material and have now put it into production of masks.
Niu Jing, Assistant Director of the Technology Department of China National Chemical Corporation: It can be equivalent to the isolation capacity of N95 or KN95 standards, and it has good breathability and can be used for more times used.
This new material called expanded polytetrafluoroethylene was originally used in high-end fields such as aerospace and aerospace, and its price is relatively high. Recently, due to the continued rise in the price of meltblown cloth, the conditions for market promotion have been met.
Yang Maoliang, General Manager of China National Chemical Corporation Haohua Technology: At present, the price of our raw materials is comparable to that of melt-blown cloth. Taking into account the reusability, if all are put on the market, it will play a positive role in stabilizing the market price of mask raw materials.
Li Lingshen, President of China Industrial Textiles Industry Association: If some new processes, new technologies, and new filter materials emerge, it will moderately alleviate the current market pressure.
In addition to the development of alternative products, 10 meltblown cloth production lines, including those urgently constructed by Sinopec, will also be put into production one after another, adding 18 tons of new production capacity per day, which is the raw material required for 18 million masks. production capacity.
Jiao Yang, deputy general manager of Sinopec Yanshan Petrochemical: The next step is to expand the scale of two melt-blown heads, so that we can achieve the same goal on the existing basis. Double production.
Industry insiders said that around late March, foreign melt-blown cloth resources will gradually arrive, and the shortage of domestic melt-blown cloth will improve.
Li Lingshen, President of China Industrial Textiles Industry Association: It is estimated that by the end of March or early April, we can reach 200 tons of melt-blown nonwoven materials per day , you can make 200 million to 250 million masks. We now use a term called tight balance. It should be said that it can basically be satisfied for temporary emergency use.
Sinopec spokesperson Lu Dapeng: Factors from all parties will cause the output of melt-blown cloth to gradually increase, which will ease the tension of melt-blown cloth and make the price of melt-blown cloth rational. </p
