Since the outbreak of the new coronavirus, masks have been out of stock overnight. Since February 10, companies in many places across the country have resumed work one after another, and the shortage of masks, which have become a necessity, is increasing day by day.
On the one hand, masks must be worn when entering and exiting public places, and companies also need a certain amount of masks to ensure that they are provided to employees every day when they resume work; on the other hand, whether it is an online e-commerce platform or offline, In pharmacies, it is normal to find a “mask” that is hard to come by. Even front-line medical staff are in short supply of masks, protective clothing and other medical supplies.
On February 8, Huachuang Securities reported that it is optimistically estimated that by the end of February, my country’s daily mask production capacity is expected to increase to 2 Billions.
According to statistics from the China Industrial Textiles Industry Association, the production process of China’s nonwovens industry is dominated by spunbond. In 2018, the output of spunbond nonwovens was 2.9712 million tons, accounting for 50% of the total nonwovens output, and was mainly used in fields such as sanitary materials; the melt-blown process accounted for only 0.9%.
It is estimated that in 2018, the domestic output of melt-blown nonwovens was 53,500 tons/year. These melt-blown cloths are not only used for masks, but also for environmental protection materials, clothing materials, battery separator materials, wiping materials, etc.
Compared with mask manufacturers, there are not many melt-blown non-woven fabric manufacturers. Under such circumstances, the country has mobilized some source companies to put into full production and increase production capacity. However, at present, it seems that the situation is not optimistic in the face of textile platforms and the circle of textile people’s friends who are everywhere asking for melt-blown non-woven fabrics. China’s production speed is facing unprecedented challenges during this pneumonia!
Melt-blown cloth can be called the “heart” of medical surgical masks and N95 masks.
Medical surgical masks and N95 masks generally adopt a multi-layer structure, referred to as SMS structure: a single layer of spunbond layer (S) on both sides of the inside and outside; a melt-blown layer (M) in the middle , generally divided into single layer or multi-layer.
Flat masks are generally made of PP spunbond + meltblown + PP spunbond. You can also use short fibers in one layer to improve the skin feel. Three-dimensional cup-shaped masks are generally made of PET polyester needle-punched cotton + melt-blown + needle-punched cotton or PP spunbond. Among them, the outer layer is a waterproof-treated non-woven fabric, which is mainly used to isolate the droplets sprayed by the patient; the middle melt-blown layer is a specially treated melt-blown non-woven fabric, which has good filtering and shielding properties. , heat insulation and oil absorption, are important raw materials for the production of masks; the inner layer is ordinary non-woven fabric.
Although the spunbond layer (S) and meltblown layer (M) of the mask are both non-woven fabrics and the raw materials are polypropylene, the production processes are different.
Among them, the fiber diameter of the spunbond layer on the inside and outside is relatively thick, about 20 microns; the fiber diameter of the melt-blown layer in the middle is only 2 microns, and is made of a type of fiber called high-melt fat fiber. Made of polypropylene material.
Melt-blown non-woven fabric
Melt-blown fabric is mainly made of polypropylene as the main raw material, and the fiber diameter can reach 1 to 5 microns. With many voids, fluffy structure and good anti-wrinkle ability, these ultra-fine fibers with unique capillary structure increase the number and surface area of fibers per unit area, thus making the melt-blown cloth have good filtering, shielding, thermal insulation and oil absorption properties. . It can be used in fields such as air and liquid filter materials, isolation materials, absorbent materials, mask materials, thermal insulation materials, oil-absorbent materials and wipers.
The process of melt-blown non-woven fabrics: polymer feeding – melt extrusion – fiber formation – fiber cooling – web formation – reinforcement into cloth.
Application Scope
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Medical and sanitary cloths: surgical gowns, protective clothing, disinfection wraps, masks, Diapers, women’s sanitary napkins, etc.;
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Home decoration cloth: wall coverings, tablecloths, sheets, bedspreads, etc.;
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Clothing fabrics: linings, adhesive linings, wadding, styling cotton, various synthetic leather base fabrics, etc.;
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Industrial fabrics: filter materials, insulation materials, cement packaging bags, geotextiles, covering fabrics, etc.;
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Agricultural fabrics: crops Protective cloth, seedling raising cloth, irrigation cloth, thermal insulation curtain, etc.;
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(Others: space cotton, thermal insulation and sound insulation materials, linoleum-absorbing felt, cigarette filters, bags Tea bags, etc.
The future development of the mask industry presents three major trends
According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the current largest market for masks The daily production capacity is 20 million pieces. Calculated based on the maximum production capacity, the annual output exceeds 7.3 billion pieces.
China is the world’s largest mask producer and exporter, with annual mask output accounting for about 50%. According to data released by the China Textile Business Association, China’s mask output was approximately 4.54 billion pieces in 2018, exceeded 5 billion pieces in 2019, and is expected to exceed 6 billion pieces by 2020.
Data source: China Business Industry Research Institute
Currently, in the face of the pneumonia epidemic, all parts of the country are working day and night to increase production. The China Business Industry Research Institute predicts that the mask industry may have the following changes in the future:
1. Mask production will continue to rise
According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China’s maximum mask production capacity is more than 20 million masks per day. After investigation, French domestic radio stations stated that the world’s largest medical mask production base is in China, with its production accounting for 80% of the world’s production. After the epidemic, the surplus production will be purchased and stored by the government, and companies that meet the standards can organize production at full capacity. It is expected that mask production will continue to increase in the future.
2. Professional masks will gradually occupy the market
With the continuous development of our country’s economy and the improvement of people’s living standards, With continuous improvement, people’s consumption concepts and consumption levels have also undergone great changes and improvements. In recent years, as the country attaches greater importance to personal safety protection and the incidence of occupational diseases such as pneumoconiosis has increased, the market space for professional masks is huge.
China Business Industry Research Institute pointed out that in the future, professional masks will continue to occupy the market, while the market share of low-end full gauze masks will continue to decrease. This is an inevitable trend.
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