During the epidemic, masks were important protective equipment and became a must-have for front-line medical care, companies resuming work, and people traveling, and the market demand surged. The new mask production capacity across the country has “doubled” rapidly, and the core raw material meltblown cloth has been in short supply.
How scarce are the core raw materials for masks? What is the root cause of the skyrocketing price of meltblown cloth? Mask production lines have been put into production in large quantities. Why don’t manufacturers take the opportunity to expand meltblown cloth production capacity? When will the tight supply of raw materials for masks be alleviated?
Urgent notification
On March 5, the General Office of the National Municipal Administration issued a red-headed document, an urgent notice to carry out a special investigation on the price of melt-blown fabrics. The content is as follows:
“Crazy” melt blowing Cloth
Melt-blown cloth is in short supply and prices are rising rapidly, forming a very strong seller’s market.
“Except for melt-blown cloth, everything else is easy to talk about.” In a mask supply sharing exchange group, a manufacturer said this.
This group brings together more than a hundred related manufacturers from the upstream and downstream of the mask industry. They will exchange information related to masks in the group. Although the prices of earbands, nose strips and other materials are also rising, the supply is not in short supply. Only meltblown cloth has formed a very strong seller’s market.
“Recent inquiry melting For spray cloth, the quoted price is at least 200,000 yuan/ton, and three to four hundred thousand is not uncommon. Two weeks ago, we purchased 80,000 yuan/ton, and the highest one was 120,000 yuan/ton.” Switching to production of masks and other epidemic prevention products A Shandong clothing company that supplies materials has recently been “unable to find materials.” Ding Yan, the person in charge of the company, said that the rapid rise in the price of meltblown cloth caught people off guard.
Melt-blown cloth is the key material that brings virus filtration to masks. It can be called the “heart” of medical surgical masks and N95 masks.
Without meltblown cloth, we can only “let the machine wait for the cloth”. Qingdao Hainuo Bioengineering Co., Ltd. has two production lines for medical surgical masks and one production line for civilian masks. They reported to the local government that due to the shortage of raw materials, they could not get the goods, and some of the production lines had to stop production.
Swarming demand
On the demand side of meltblown cloth, masks The amount of new production capacity is large, and some manufacturers are looking for materials and raising cloth prices.
According to the National Development and Reform Commission, the current national mask production capacity utilization rate has reached 110%. As of February 29, the national daily mask production capacity has reached 110 million pieces, and the daily output has reached 116 million pieces. At present, 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities except Tibet have successively launched new mask production lines, and new mask production lines are constantly being put into production. The person in charge of the China Textile Business Association said that in the future, the market demand for meltblown fabrics will further increase.
The recent surge in cloth prices is mainly reflected in small and medium-sized mask factories and those that have just changed production. Mainly new mask factories. The relevant person in charge of the Shandong Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology said that the price of masks is high and it is profitable to produce masks. Coupled with the initiative of local governments, many companies have switched to mask production, and the demand for raw materials has increased significantly, and the supply cannot be provided.
In order to ensure the supply of anti-epidemic materials for front-line medical care, the national and local industry and information departments have formulated a group of key material support enterprises. The production of these mask factories and cloth factories are monitored by the government, and their sales are scheduled by the government. The price increases are relatively large. Controllable. However, industry insiders believe that the large number of mask factories that have sprung up recently do not have stable suppliers, so they can only look for raw materials everywhere and buy materials at high prices.
Restless supply
It is reported , they have been working overtime since receiving the notice from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on January 27, and all 10 production lines are operating at full capacity 24 hours a day. The daily output of meltblown cloth produced by Shandong Junfu is about 13 tons, accounting for 1/10 of the country’s total. According to the dispatch of the state and relevant departments, it is mainly supplied to downstream enterprises in Hubei and Shandong.
There are not many large-scale manufacturers capable of producing meltblown fabrics in China. The industry has lacked attention for a long time and has been tepid. The industry as a whole is small and fragmented. At present, domestic meltblown fabric production capacity is mainly distributed in a few provinces and cities such as Shandong, Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu.
On the supply side of meltblown fabrics, large fabric factories have not increased prices significantly due to government regulation, but there are also small factories that have raised prices.
“The usual price of meltblown cloth is about��20,000 yuan/ton, now our price is 100,000 yuan/ton. Because we have lowered prices, local small cloth factories dare not raise prices. However, in some other provinces where there is a lack of leading enterprises, small cloth factories raise prices to each other, and the prices are high. Above 200,000 yuan/ton. Many small mask factories want to use our materials and ask the local government to coordinate. I receive two to three hundred calls a day. “Said Huang Wensheng, general manager of Shandong Junfu.
Many small cloth factories that are not included in the guaranteed supply list of mask raw materials have seriously raised their prices. A mask manufacturer in Shandong Lin Youqiang, the person in charge of the manufacturer, said that meltblown fabric companies that usually have stable customers must not increase prices arbitrarily in order to maintain customer relationships; a group of companies that do not have stable partners and have performed poorly in the past maliciously raise prices in order to make a quick buck.
Industry insiders revealed that some meltblown cloth suppliers have behaved quite “strongly” in the market. Not only did they deliver less or not issue invoices, but they also required downstream factories to use “hard currency” masks at a discount. Payment, and additional cash is required.
At the circulation end of meltblown cloth, there are middlemen who take the opportunity to make profit from the price difference.
In some WeChat groups for connecting mask raw material resources, there are The phenomenon of middlemen setting high prices at will. “They just opened their mouths and offered a high price of 3.5 to 50,000 yuan per ton. They took advantage of our lack of supply and rushed production. They often said, ‘If you want it, hurry up and transfer it. You don’t want people to take the goods.'” The tension of rising in seconds and killing in seconds. ”
The relevant person in charge of the Industry and Information Technology Bureau of a city in Shandong Province said that many people stocked up and sold goods, and significantly increased the price when they sold them. A lot of meltblown fabrics stayed in warehouses and circulation links, waiting for price increases, and supply and demand could not be achieved. A better match.
Significant profits
The profits of masks are amazing, This is an important reason why mask factories are willing to buy meltblown cloth at high prices.
An industry insider calculated a cost account: 1 ton of melt-blown cloth can Make 1 million medical surgical masks. If the meltblown cloth sells for 200,000 yuan/ton, the cloth price only accounts for 0.2 yuan in the cost of a mask. The current price of the masks allocated by the government from Shandong is about 1.5 yuan each, with an additional subsidy of 0.2 yuan. Yuan; Beijing is about 4 yuan each, and Shanghai and Hubei are about 3 yuan each. Although logistics, labor, melt-blown polypropylene and other costs have doubled recently, they still account for a small proportion of the selling price of masks.
On the other hand, the demand for purchasing masks has increased significantly. Some companies that are eager to resume work do not care about the price of raw materials, which has pushed up the price of masks. “Recently, there has been a wave of companies resuming work across the country, and the state requires companies to distribute masks to their employees. For protective equipment, if each employee of each company uses one mask a day, this is an astronomical figure. Lin Youqiang said.
According to the fourth national economic census data, the total employed population of domestic legal entities and self-employed households is as high as 533 million. Calculated on the basis of one mask per person per day, at least 533 million are needed every day. Masks. Compared with the current daily production capacity, there is a huge gap in masks, and the profit margins can be imagined.
Melt-blown cloth replacement materials are available
According to Sanlian Life Weekly, on March 3, a private enterprise in Tongxiang, Jiaxing, Zhejiang, announced the successful development of a new anti-epidemic material that can replace melt-blown cloth. This coated high-efficiency filter material that can replace melt-blown cloth has With the characteristics of low resistance, high efficiency and easy cleaning, the masks can be used repeatedly for 10 times. The company stated that the current products have passed comprehensive testing and are put into production.
The emergence of alternative materials for melt-blown cloth is good news for stabilizing the market price of melt-blown cloth. According to Xinhua Viewpoint, many central enterprises have accelerated the deployment of melt-blown cloth production capacity. It will play a certain role in stabilizing market prices.
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