Author: Allison Image: Source Network
China's masks produce nearly 200 million per day, where to sell? Sold to whom?
What are the deepest anxieties of 2020? Of course, I can't buy a mask...
It is not easy for China to survive the freedom of masks, but the concerns about the supply of masks in countries and regions outside China are intensifying. According to previous WHO estimates, an estimated 89 million medical masks are needed globally each month to respond to the outbreak.
In Europe, masks and other medical supplies have been killing each other: Polish customs seized 23,000 FFP2 masks purchased by Italy in Poland; German customs seized 830,000 masks purchased by Italy from China and a Swiss truck containing 240,000 masks; the Czech Republic requisitioned a batch of masks donated by China to Italy; and France cancelled orders for millions of masks ordered by britain. When the Spanish minister of health talked about the shortage of masks, he cried at the scene...
The world's richest man can't buy a mask. Amazon CEO Bezos ordered millions of masks to distribute to employees and contractors on duty, but few orders arrived.
The spread of the epidemic overseas has inverted the demand for medical supplies at home and abroad, and China's manufacturing capacity has once again become the focus of the world's attention.
Before the outbreak, China covered half of the world's masks, and since the outbreak of the epidemic, China's mask production has increased by nearly 12 times. Official data show that including ordinary masks, medical masks, and medical N95 masks, China's daily production of masks has soared from 10 million in early February to 116 million - this is only official data, and the actual production of masks may be higher, with conservative estimates reaching 200 million.
In contrast to the staggering capacity, domestic saturation of market demand and prices are beginning to fall. The world expects China to resolve the "mask shortage", and China also needs the world to digest the "Chinese mask".
Some companies are now involved in diplomatic aid programs at the national level. Since March 20, the first batch of 8 million European standard medical protective masks urgently exported to Italy by Chinese enterprises have been transported to Italy by chartered flight. On March 21, China's first China-Europe train carrying exports of Epidemic Prevention Materials from Europe sailed to Madrid, loading about 110,000 medical masks and 766 sets of protective clothing, totaling more than 70 boxes. On March 22, 25.5 million medical masks aided by China to Russia flew to Moscow's Chekarovsky airport.
At present, the Chinese government has announced that it will provide assistance to 83 countries, WHO and the African Union, including testing reagents, masks, protective clothing, etc.
In addition to diplomatic assistance, more mask companies are also actively seeking overseas orders.
A few days ago, China General Technology Group Italy and the Italian government's civil defense department reached a supply agreement for 8 million masks, with a total price of 13.6 million euros, and the price of a mask is about 13 yuan. LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods group, ordered 40 million masks from China, with an order value of 5 million euros, or about 38 million yuan.
The huge gap in overseas markets is tempting. "Even some companies have not yet produced masks, and they have begun to consult about the export of masks." The staff of a mask export third-party testing agency recently revealed.
The crazy scene of the "mask printing machine" in China in February, many companies hope to reproduce it in overseas markets. But until now, at the moment when the epidemic is raging overseas, the export of masks has been somewhat muted. Many companies that have tested water have begun to realize that behind the seemingly huge commercial interests, this transaction does not have so much oil and water to fish.
For Chinese mask manufacturers, CE certification qualification (EU compulsory product certification) and FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) certification approval are stepping stones to enter the European and American markets. At present, only some companies have obtained qualifications, and more companies are still waiting.
Civilian mask CE, FDA certification processing cycle of about half a month, medical mask CE certification processing cycle is generally about 4-5 weeks, medical FDA certification needs to be registered in the United States, the time is up to 6 months or even longer.
The epidemic has caused inevitable delays in qualification processing, especially in Europe, where the epidemic is severe, many certification bodies cannot work normally, and the certification applications waiting to be processed are piled up.
Some insiders said that the qualification fee soared from about 8,000 yuan to 30,000 to 50,000.
Under the epidemic, the policies related to the import and export of medical materials are also changing rapidly. Since March 24, Alibaba has stopped selling masks and disinfectants to Poland because Polish government agencies have asked e-commerce platforms not to sell masks and disinfection products to its borders. Amazon and eBay, the largest overseas e-commerce companies, shielded and removed masks and other epidemic prevention materials from the shelves, citing curbing price gouging.
Handling a certificate is the first step to go to sea, but half a month has passed since the certificate alone, and no one can say clearly how the market situation and policy are after half a month.
On the other hand, increasing costs are compressing the profit margins of mask exports. As overseas logistics impediments further increase, transportation costs are inevitably increasing. The price of raw materials in the market, especially meltblown cloth, is also jumping. Before the epidemic, the market price of meltblown cloth was about 18,000 yuan / ton, and in just two months, the price of meltblown cloth once soared to about 400,000 yuan / ton, up nearly 20 times.
The price given by overseas buyers is not higher than that of domestic, and the price of some Eastern European buyers is even lower than that of the domestic market, including various formalities and qualifications, long-distance transportation and other expenses, and the profits tossed down may not be as large as the domestic requisitioned products.
The mask machine is the first printing machine in 2020, and the monthly income of tens of millions is not a legend.
According to the data, as of March 18, there were 47,000 enterprises in China that included masks and were operating normally, of which 8,950 were established after the outbreak on January 25, 2020; of all the new enterprises, 5,695 were established after March 1. In other words, more than 60% of the new mask companies were established in March.
Most of the mask manufacturers who entered the game in February were mask veteran players and leading enterprises, and in March, most of them were speculative players. But in fact, since March, the labor, materials and equipment produced by masks have risen more than ten times, and the price of masks has risen more than three times, and the profits have been quite thin.
The concentrated outbreak of the epidemic overseas has allowed some speculative players to see the opportunity, but they have ignored the completely different situation caused by the difference in health policies and epidemic prevention concepts in overseas markets and domestic markets: there are 370,000 confirmed cases outside China, but ordinary people just don't wear masks. At present, the demand for masks in overseas markets is still concentrated in the medical system, and if you want to do this part of the business, you must apply for higher specifications of medical qualifications, which means that the cost will be doubled.
These late mask speculators, who do not have the channels and resources of old players and head enterprises, bought the most expensive machines and the most expensive raw materials, but caught up with the domestic saturated market, falling prices and overseas markets that are difficult to break.
The overheated production of masks has caused many companies to stop their radical steps. Some temporary production enterprises began to gradually close their mouths, no longer continue to expand mask production capacity, but also began to close the existing production line in a planned manner; they realized that sticking to the original product and doing long-term customers is a stable business.
This article is the original work of the big country brand, please contact the administrator for reprinting