As Modern Textile serves as the “world’s factory”, the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 has brought certain impacts and challenges to the development of the textile and apparel industry. In particular, the industry is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises. Enterprises cannot start work as scheduled and orders cannot be placed. On-schedule delivery, blocked sales channels, tight funds, poor operation of the industrial chain, and even damage to import and export trade…the pressure can be imagined. To this end, the national and local governments have introduced various preferential policies and support measures to further help corporate employees return to work as soon as possible and resume work at full production, reduce losses, and overcome the difficulties together.
Although the epidemic has suppressed traditional consumer demand and made this Spring Festival the “coldest golden week in history”, none of this can stop China from moving forward. With a solid foundation accumulated over more than 40 years of reform and opening up, the textile industry is one of the industrial sectors with the greatest potential for China to take the lead in becoming a world manufacturing power. It is not only the largest producer, consumer and exporter of textiles and clothing in the world, but also It has formed the largest and most complete industrial system in the world and is an industrial sector with independent innovation capabilities across the entire industry chain. I believe that with the united efforts of the entire industry to persevere, innovate, unite and forge ahead, we will have the confidence, ability and determination to do so. Respond to shocks, win the battle against the epidemic, and realize the battle to defend the economy. Because China’s economic fundamentals and long-term positive trend will not change in any way because of this epidemic!
“During the epidemic prevention and control process, the market’s enthusiasm for innovation has been stimulated, and a series of new consumption, new products, new business formats, and new models have emerged, bringing new opportunities to further realize innovation-driven development. Opportunities and development space.” As Wang Wei, director of the Institute of Market Economics of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said, with the gradual control of the epidemic and the acceleration of enterprises’ resumption of production and work, entering the second quarter, my country’s economic operations will gradually return to normal. Market supply tends to be stable, and the pent-up demand of urban and rural residents will be quickly released.
Accurately grasp and gain insight into these new changes, new trends and new models that have emerged during the epidemic. When spring comes, we will definitely follow the trend, adapt to the future, and achieve greater success.
Personal protective equipment is popular in the market
The key to cracking the “slim waist” of melt-blown cloth
Recently, with the large-scale infection and increase in the number of new coronavirus pneumonia around the world, the World Health Organization The organization stated that the global demand for masks and other protective equipment will surge by more than 100 times! At present, there are more than 21,000 companies in my country with various business scopes including “masks”, and there are only more than 350 companies with the qualifications to produce medical masks. Data shows that my country’s overall mask production capacity was previously 20 million pieces/day, medical surgical masks production capacity was 2.2 million pieces/day, and medical N95 mask production capacity was approximately 600,000 pieces/day (relevant data shows that the overall production capacity increased 4 times during the epidemic) . With the increase in the frequency of public travel, the persistence of epidemic prevention and control, and the enhancement of personal health and hygiene awareness, the demand for masks may reach as high as 535 million or more per day in the future. It can be seen that the production of masks and the research and development and innovation of corresponding products have huge potential.
In addition, from the perspective of the entire mask industry chain, the upstream is polypropylene; the midstream is non-woven fabrics and mask machines. Among them, non-woven fabrics are mainly spunbond fabrics and melt-blown fabrics. Medical surgical masks and N95 masks generally have a multi-layer structure. The outer layer is waterproof spunbond fabric, the middle layer (filter layer) is melt-blown fabric, and the inner layer is moisture-absorbent. Spunbond fabric; downstream is the production of masks. There is currently ample upstream polypropylene production capacity, and as the use of masks increases, production capacity is also expanding. Regarding downstream mask production, according to the press conference of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council, as of February 11, the national mask production capacity utilization rate has reached 94%, and many companies in other manufacturing fields have also joined the ranks of producing masks across borders. According to statistics, from January 1 to February 7, more than 3,000 companies across the country added “masks, protective clothing” and other businesses to their business scope. It is expected that the supply of masks will also increase rapidly in the future.
Affected by downstream demand, meltblown cloth, known as the “heart” of masks, has dropped from the usual 20,000 yuan/ton in the past month. It has risen to more than 300,000 yuan/ton, and there is even the possibility of continuing to rise. This has turned the originally niche product into a very strong seller’s market, and even the mass production of masks is somewhat “stuck”. For this reason, some people use “gourd” to describe the current mask industry chain, and the “slim waist” part is the current situation of meltblown cloth production. Due to the constraints of production technology and equipment, there are currently less than 200 meltblown fabric manufacturers nationwide, and the national output in 2018 was only 53,500 tons/year. Therefore, digging into the current production capacity of melt-blown cloth companies, stimulating the conversion of similar technology and process companies, and accelerating the launch of melt-blown cloth-related production lines will be of concern in the future.
This will also promote the research and development of related equipment and innovation of process technology, such as the research and development and production of more efficient intelligent mask machines, which will also become a new round of industrial “depression” . Recently, Jingwei Textile Machinery’s first N95 mask machine passed product identification. The equipment can produce more than 50,000 N95 masks per day in a single line, causing dissatisfaction in the industry.Volume and operational capabilities will become the most important core assets of enterprises. Enterprises must establish connection points with customers through digitalization, use the power of science and technology to conduct online and offline layouts, and vigorously carry out integrated innovations in the digital economy, sharing economy, smart economy, and green economy. Improve the efficiency of industrial supply chains and enhance institutional vitality and development tension.
Reporter’s words
Today, with the support of various dividends from national policies, companies are resuming work and production in an orderly manner. “Recently, various policies have been introduced from top to bottom to support enterprises. I am confident that the economy will recover quickly in the future.” As Zhou Haijiang, chairman of the board of directors of Hongdou Group, said, as long as the entire industry is united and united, we will definitely win the epidemic. Prevent, control and block the battle and achieve final victory.
It can be said that this “big test” of the epidemic has taught industries and enterprises a vivid lesson, which has also made industries and enterprises have new thinking about future development. . In particular, the new models and new consumption that will emerge will definitely enhance the resilience and vitality of the industry’s high-quality development in the future. As long as we can observe these new changes and trends in a timely manner, this epidemic crisis will be both a business opportunity and a turning point.
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