Crazy masks ①｜Falling the wealthy "altar": from earning 150,000 a day to facing a loss of millions
"Falling from the sky to the ground", Wang Gang took only half a month.
"The hard-earned savings came back to the time before liberation." On June 2, Wang Gang (pseudonym) who invested in an open mask production plant in Jining described this to the surging news (www.thepaper.cn) by killing the imported hood market. Encounter.
In mid-April, the company invested in the production of masks. Two orders were made within 10 days, and the production was completed within 3 days, with a profit of 300,000 to 400,000. Wang Gang recalled that at that time, seeing the mask machine was like seeing Jinshan.
Then the situation turned sharply. At the end of April, as the market was saturated, supply exceeded demand, and there were no more large orders; the profit of masks also plummeted, and Wang Gang and his partners invested more than 3 million yuan.
On May 1st Labor Day, he felt that it was boring to do anything. Wang Gang anesthetized himself by playing games every day.
There is such a saying in the industry: "Living in a luxury house first, then going to the rooftop." It is the "downlords" of the masks, raw materials and mask machines that make a profit.
People in the industry have avoided talking about rumors that "mask machines are like money-printing machines" and "there are many towns where masks make many millionaires." "The Chinese pay attention to wealth and don't show up. In addition, they are also worried about being scolded and making money in the country."
One of them emphasized: "You only see those who laugh, not those who cry."
Earn 150,000 a day, "I feel like waiting to count the money"
In recent days, Wang Gang is considering a career change.
In 2012, Wang Gang, who started as a salesperson, as a small shareholder, and a partner opened a non-woven bag factory in Jining, Shandong. In 2016, he began to make foreign trade orders, with annual sales of more than 6 million, and the profit is quite impressive.
Because he has no money, Wang Gang, 34, has not bought a house. Before the outbreak, he had saved 500,000 to 600,000 yuan in foreign trade in recent years. He chose a second-hand house in Jinan, paid a deposit, and planned to go through formalities after the year.
All this was disrupted by the epidemic.
In late March 2020, Wang Gang's factory resumed work. At that time, foreign epidemics had already occurred and there were no foreign trade orders at all. Domestic exhibitions and events that require non-woven bags are also closed. "There is a lot of pressure. If there is no order, the workers will be lost. Re-recruitment and training will have costs." Wang Gang recalled.
The main reason that motivated Wang Gang and his partners to kill the imported mask market was that many peers transformed their production masks, "I heard that they made millions." They believe that the company has been doing foreign trade, which is an advantage.
On April 7, the business license of Qufu Baoli Medical Technology Co., Ltd. was completed. On April 10, four sets of second-hand disposable mask machines purchased through WeChat Group were delivered and commissioned, and production began. Because he has been doing foreign trade, Wang Gang knows the importance of quality. On April 15, the company received SGS China and EU CE certification.
As soon as the certification was obtained, the company received an order for 1.1 million disposable protective masks from Italy. At that time, the filtration of 95% meltblown cloth was more than 500,000 yuan per ton, and it was calculated that the cost of each mask was RMB 9 cents, and a piece of three or four was sold. Because it is an order from a foreign trade company, the other party takes half of the profit, and each mask can earn two or three cents.
"The other party was very anxious. We strove to produce enough, and the order was completed in two days and two nights." Wang Gang recalled that in the end, the mask passed customs smoothly and the quality inspection was also qualified. After earning two or three hundred thousand in two days, Wang Gang felt very crazy.
"Looking at the mask machine is like seeing'Jinshan'." Wang Gang said, at that time, it felt like he was waiting to count the money.
Because it is a second-hand mask machine, and it is not from a large manufacturer, there are always problems, such as irregular tabletting, which needs debugging and affects the production schedule. Wang Gang and the partners sold these four mask machines without hesitation. Originally bought 200,000 sets, sold 180,000. Then, re-purchase a set of disposable mask machines from major manufacturers.
On April 20, the N95 mask machine purchased for 2 million yuan also arrived at the factory. It's been 15 days since they paid the full amount.
Immediately afterwards, the company received an order for 300,000 pieces. The other party only needed the "white film" of the N95 mask (note: the mask slicer is more expensive, and the other party's enterprise may not want to invest), take it for secondary processing, and then export To Singapore.
"Each of us earns 5 cents, and we earn 150,000 a day and night." Wang Gang said, "You think about how it feels."
The profits are staggering and the investment is not low: plus the 400,000 renovation of the aseptic workshop, the investment has reached more than 3 million.
At that time, the partner quipped that he had two sons who wanted to marry a wife, and Wang Gang also wanted to marry a wife. If you go on like this, you can earn three million yuan a month. "It's enough to marry 5 wives."
Taking advantage of low housing prices, Wang Gang, who had already invested all his savings, even started to look at the house again. He calculated that even if he was a small shareholder, he could be divided into more than one million in two months.
What surprised them was that the mask market would turn sharply down within half a month.
"First come to live in a mansion, then go to the rooftop"
After the domestic epidemic situation stabilized, many individuals and companies still kept inventory, and the demand for masks also decreased.
After the second large order, although there are still hundreds of domestic orders (mostly for household use) and 51 million (for enterprise resumption) orders, Wang Gang’s mask factory has not received large orders since the end of April. .
At that time, the mask market was saturated.
Wang Gang panicked and began to send a circle of friends, mobilizing all relatives and friends to help sell masks, but with little effect. "
A friend found the leader of a local epidemic prevention headquarters. When asked, they also stocked many masks. "
According to the data of the professional version of Tianyancha, according to the industrial and commercial registration, from January 1 to May 31, 70802 mask-related enterprises in my country were newly registered, an increase of 1255.84% compared with the same period in 2019. Among them, 35,260 in April, and began to decline in May to 10,283. In addition, according to CCTV reports, in March and April, China exported 27.8 billion masks, which was about three times the total global mask output last year. On April 24, 1.06 billion were exported.
On May 1st, Wang Gang completely lost his confidence. "I really don't know what to do. I just play games every day to anesthetize myself. I have to fight until I can't bear to sleep at night. The only time I go out is to buy cigarettes."
Not to mention that there is no order, even if there is an order, it is impossible to recover the investment according to the profit rate of the mask. Seeing that the savings were going to float, Wang Gang felt that he had "returned to the pre-liberation period" and failed very much.
Many people in the industry said that during the severe epidemic, it was not easy to kill the imported hood market because of road closures. At that time, "many factories switched to produce mask machines," and it was still difficult to find one. At its peak, the N95 mask machine was fired to more than 2.3 million, and the disposable mask machine was more than 1 million. The full price of the booking is required, and the delivery is usually within half a month, even a month later. As a result, it is too early for investors who killed the import hood market when the epidemic was initially stable to start production in mid to late March. Moreover, at that time, the mask machine factory did not come to the door for installation at all, and many mask machines failed to be debugged, so they were lying there.
According to the observation and estimation of these industry insiders, 90% of the mask production line investors who started to enter the market steadily after the epidemic failed to recover the cost. "It's better not to go on the N95 mask machine. It's normal to lose a million on the N95 mask machine."
There is a saying in the industry: first come to live in a luxury house, then go to the roof.
In one of the most important mask towns in China, a mask salesman with Maserati told Peng Mei News that many of them later got into the market. Most of these were invested by relatives and friends in partnership, and they lost money. "You only see those who laugh, not those who cry."
Still decided to leave the machine
After the May Day holiday, Wang Gang felt better after being taught by friends and was willing to come out to do things.
Wang Gang heard that some colleagues in Zhejiang began to make masks when the domestic epidemic situation stabilized. "After doing a while, the machine will be sold immediately." Today, the price of disposable mask machines has fallen to two or three hundred thousand, but it is also priceless. After discussing with his partner, Wang Gang decided not to sell the machine. In May, a mask factory found them, and asked them to put the mask machine in the factory, and then divided them according to the number of masks produced. They also refused.
Wang Gang said that at present, the market for non-woven bags is recovering, and they have decided to focus on non-woven bags and regard masks as a sideline. The reason is that there are not many regular mask manufacturers around.
Li Lei (pseudonym), which is similar to Wang Gang, has a different choice from Wang Gang. He is one of the most important masks in China, and his brother-in-law's family is an open mask factory. When the domestic epidemic situation stabilized, he spent more than 2 million on a set of N95 mask machines. Compared with disposable protective masks, the profit of each N95 mask was much higher. However, the mask machine has been badly debugged and cannot be put into production. Worried about the price of the mask machine dropping to scrap iron, he sold the mask machine for 300,000 yuan.
Even so, Li Lei in the early "inverted mask" said he also earned more than a hundred thousand.
During the epidemic, like Li Lei, those who poured mask machines, masks, and melt-blown cloth made a lot of money and made a lot of money. However, the most profitable ones are those that originally produced masks and that the epidemic hit the market early.
An epidemic left behind rumors that "mask machines are like money-printing machines" and "there are many millionaires in mask towns".
In this regard, these people in the industry are mostly avoiding talk. "The Chinese pay attention to wealth and don't show up. In addition, they are also worried about being scolded and making money out of the country."
Now, meltblown fabrics that are below the 80% level (filtration efficiency) of mask production standards on the market have plummeted from 500,000 to 10,000 yuan per ton. The 95%-level melt-blown cloth was also reduced from 6 to 700,000 to 250,000 at the highest time, and the 99%-level melt-blown cloth was reduced from over 700,000 to 300,000.
Wang Gang told Peng Mei News that the meltblown fabric was difficult to buy and worried about the price increase. When the first batch of Italian orders were produced, the company bought together more than two tons, and half of it was useless. At the current price of masks, reproduction and sale can only protect the capital. What is even more sad is that there are not even orders.
"We are not so worried. We are considering opening an online store to expand the sales of masks and non-woven bags." Wang Gang said that now the domestic mask market is saturated. However, those countries with less developed light industry still have a relatively large demand for masks, and they can still export as long as the quality is up to standard. The ex-factory price of masks is still higher than before the epidemic. Compared with the profit of a few cents per mask before, the profits are still considerable.
"It's also good news and no worry outside. Parents asked, and they all said it was okay." Wang Gang could only gritt his teeth, "The only hope is at the exit, and no one knows the future situation of the epidemic. Watch while doing it. ""
Surging News Reporter Duan Yanchao