In September, epidemic prevention manufacturers found that the masks and epidemic prevention fabrics that had once ridden the waves were no longer fragrant.
“The peak period for orders is in late March, and our company’s daily production capacity of meltblown materials is as high as 20 tons. The original machines were modified and put into production directly, and the four production lines were running continuously.” Xu Yong (pseudonym), director of a workshop in Zhejiang that produces melt-blown materials and melt-blown cloths, told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that the company began to enter melt-blown materials on March 20 In the early days of the industry, the employees were unskilled and had to stay up 24 hours a day to sleep in front of the factory. Later, the employees gradually got used to it.
Soon, orders for melt-blown materials disappeared instantly, and their company switched to producing melt-blown cloth. The daily production capacity has been maintained at around 1 ton.
The company of Zhang Hong (pseudonym), deputy director of a company that produces masks in southwestern provinces, also experienced a significant drop in orders. They started producing masks at the end of March. The peak of orders was around April 10. After that, there were fewer and fewer orders, and profits were not as good as before.
At present, after entering April, the demand for epidemic prevention materials has gradually normalized from a blowout, and many companies have already considered switching production.
No more orders, profits plummeted
“After the outbreak of the epidemic in Europe, the company’s orders were at their peak, with the highest order being hundreds of thousands of meters of fabric. For a period of time, due to supply cuts by upstream manufacturers, there was a shortage of raw materials.” Jiangsu Chen Fei (pseudonym), general manager of a company that produces protective clothing fabrics, said that his company mainly produces protective clothing fabrics. During the Spring Festival, epidemic prevention materials were in short supply. The government asked local leading medical device companies to test and make protective clothing, and they also followed suit. Approved and officially put into production.
Now, their company has not exported for 2 months, orders are intermittent, and employees are also in a “one day on and two days off” working state.
“The profit of protective clothing fabrics has dropped very seriously. At its peak, 1 meter of fabric could earn 1-2 yuan, but now it can only earn 1-2 cents, and the profit is 10%. The price is even lower than before the outbreak.” Chen Fei said that before, the demand was high, and many companies were producing and hoarding a lot of goods in an attempt to make a profit on the price difference. As a result, demand dropped, prices plummeted beyond expectations, and heavy losses were incurred.
Like the above-mentioned Jiangsu companies, many companies have seized the spotlight in the anti-epidemic materials industry and rushed to put into production. However, most of them are currently facing plummeting orders and profits.
Xu Yong said, “The highest market price of meltblown materials once reached 45,000 yuan/ton, and now it is estimated to be only 10,000 yuan/ton. We sell it for 11,000 yuan/ton, which is quite at 10% profit”. The crazy situation of producing an average of 20 tons of meltblown materials per day only lasted for half a month. By April, the number of orders dropped sharply. The company braked in time and stopped production directly. Currently, there are basically no orders, and there are only a few occasionally.
In late April, their company switched to a new production of meltblown cloth machines. The daily production capacity has been relatively stable, staying at around 1 ton.
Similarly, as the production capacity of melt-blown cloth has exploded, the price of melt-blown cloth has also dropped significantly, and the profit margin has shrunk severely. “The cost of 1 ton of meltblown cloth is about 28,000 yuan/ton. The highest market price once reached 500,000 yuan/ton. Now it can only be sold for 30,000 yuan/ton. The gross profit margin is only about 7%, which is basically unprofitable. “Xu Yong said.
Zhang Hong is the deputy director of a mask manufacturer in southwest China. They focus on overseas markets and started producing disposable flat masks at the end of March. The peak of orders was on April 10. At that time, when domestic work and production were resuming, the epidemic broke out abroad, and demand increased sharply.
Subsequently, foreign merchants began to bargain heavily. Zhang Hong said frankly, “At present, whether our customers bargain or not determines the gross profit of masks. When there are no orders now, as long as the gross profit is around 20%, orders will be accepted. The profits of the mask industry are lower than other industries.”
Photo/Xinhua News Agency
Deep cultivation Or is it transformation?
Currently, orders for anti-epidemic materials are in a “hot outside and cold inside” pattern. In other words, manufacturers that export anti-epidemic materials have better profits than companies that only sell domestically. few.
Industry insiders said that the domestic demand for anti-epidemic materials has dropped sharply, but the demand for export is still very strong. However, due to the previous zero threshold for export, the quality of exported anti-epidemic materials was uneven. , the country began to formulate strict qualification standards, stipulating that only medical device companies are eligible to export, so demand dropped again.
Xu Yong said that it is the high standards that allow exported meltblown cloth to still maintain a high price, which can be sold for 30,000 yuan/ton.
At present, the era of huge profits in the epidemic prevention materials industry has passed. The unique “cash and spot” transaction method of this industry has made some manufacturers nostalgic, and some manufacturers are not optimistic about the future market and choose Change production.
Xu Yong said that the supply of anti-epidemic materials in the industry has actually far exceeded demand, and the vast majority of companies are losing money, so they do not plan to delve deeper into it, but they have invested several million yuan in the early stage. Equipment, if it is not produced, is just a pile of scrap iron. In the future, meltblown cloth will still be regarded as a sideline business, and it will be kept open if there is profit and no loss.”This industry was a sunset industry before the epidemic, with low profits and low overall demand. Orders after the outbreak were also very unstable.”
Zhang Hongze said , although it is still optimistic about the demand for masks in the second half of the year, regards masks as a long-term project, and insists on applying for a medical machinery license, the company has also planned to transform, because it cannot receive orders for masks, resulting in idle factories, idle workers, and the masks they produce Prices are high and sales are low.
They are looking for “hot products” and have targeted elderly care products by analyzing big data from major e-commerce platforms. “The elderly market is huge, and the gross profit is about 40%. However, For the time being, we have decided to sell the transformed products domestically first, and have not considered exporting them yet,” Zhang Hong said.
Chen Fei judged that this industry will be slightly profitable in the second half of the year, and there will not be a shortage of supplies and skyrocketing prices like before, because factories are prepared and the government will also stock up for epidemic prevention. Resources, even if a second wave of epidemics occurs in autumn and winter, the price of epidemic prevention materials will only rise slightly at most. Overall, market demand has entered a normal state.
However, Chen Fei’s company still plans to delve into the anti-epidemic materials industry, because they originally specialized in textile fabrics, and protective clothing fabrics were considered part of the business, and they were produced upon receiving orders. Moreover, they are already familiar with the relevant production processes and have obtained the qualification to produce protective clothing for medical devices. “
In the long run, with the influx and withdrawal of a large number of manufacturers, the anti-epidemic materials industry will be reshuffled again, orders will gradually stabilize, and profits will develop into “normal” .
“However, we must have stable major customers and sales channels. “Zhang Hong said.</p
