Before the epidemic, 20,000 yuan per ton, now 300,000 yuan per ton! Mask factories have skyrocketed, but raw material prices are scarce! What's the problem?
Since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia, the supply of masks has received much attention. As the key material in the filtering process of masks, meltblown cloth can be called the "heart" of medical surgical masks and N95 masks.
Recently, due to the sharp increase in the demand for masks, the supply of meltblown cloth is also very tight, and the price has even increased by more than ten times. It can be said that "one cloth is hard to find."
Mask factory's surge in melt-blown cloth is difficult to find
The reporter saw in the supply and demand area of key medical prevention and control materials set up by the State Council that recently there was a large amount of information on the purchase of meltblown cloths for the production of masks. The reporter then contacted several of the mask production factories.
A person in charge of a mask manufacturing company in Foshan, Guangdong: The equipment is also coming in. Every day someone calls to say that the mask is not made, but the raw materials (meltblown cloth) are not available, and the production is not energy-producing, which is also a headache.
A person in charge of a mask production company in Tianjin: Now that many mask factories have been built, especially during this time, meltblown fabrics have become even more tense.
The contradiction between the supply and demand of meltblown cloth is also directly reflected in the market price. In addition to the designated allocation by the government, the price of meltblown cloth on the market has also increased from 20,000 yuan per ton before the epidemic to the current 300,000 yuan per ton. .
A person in charge of a mask manufacturer in Foshan, Guangdong: I feel that one price a day, the price of 300,000, 400,000 (per ton) are reported.
Huang Wensheng, a person in charge of a meltblown cloth production enterprise in Shandong: demand exceeds supply, meltblown cloth is scarce, there are too many mask manufacturers, and the price of masks is high.
The person in charge of the meltblown cloth manufacturer told reporters that even if the meltblown cloth price of 400,000 yuan per ton is calculated, the cost of each ordinary mask meltblown cloth is 0.4 yuan.
Huang Wensheng, a person in charge of a meltblown cloth manufacturing enterprise in Shandong: Normally, meltblown materials account for 60% of the cost of a mask. Now masks basically cost about 3 yuan each, and meltblown cloth costs account for 10%. a few.
The reporter learned that at this stage, the production capacity of masks has increased significantly. From January 1st to February 7th, more than 3,000 companies across the country have added mask business. A number of new production companies have no stable supply channels and market demand. And high profits have boosted the tight supply of meltblown cloth.
Masks are tight in the short term
As of February 29, the daily output of domestic masks was about 116 million, which was 12 times that of February 1. This shows that during this period, the supply of meltblown cloth has increased significantly. However, it has not been able to keep up with the growth rate of mask production capacity. How can this contradiction between supply and demand be resolved in the short term?
In Beijing Yanshan Petrochemical, a meltblown cloth production line was just put into operation, two days ahead of schedule. Staff Liu Haicheng is debugging various indicators of the product to meet the needs of downstream mask production.
Liu Haicheng, a staff member of the melt-blown cloth production line of Sinopec Yanshan Petrochemical: In the future, we will gradually increase the output through corresponding technical measures and process adjustments. All the (production line) drive-up preparation groups will fight continuously for 24 hours.
Liu Haicheng told reporters that the design capacity of this production line is about 6 tons per day. Based on the production of 1 million ordinary masks per ton of meltblown cloth, they can produce 6 million masks per day. In addition, their production line also has the production capacity of polypropylene for meltblown cloth, which can quickly meet the needs of continuous expansion of meltblown cloth.
Qu Hongliang, deputy general manager of Sinopec Yanshan Petrochemical: The basic raw material for meltblown cloth production is not a bottleneck. The daily output of meltblown polypropylene raw materials is our 40-day capacity of a 6-ton meltblown cloth production line.
From raw materials to masks, there are mainly four links. One is polypropylene raw materials; the other is meltblown material; the third is meltblown cloth; the fourth is mask production.
Lu Dapeng, spokesperson for Sinopec: Among the four links, meltblown cloth became a dammed lake and a stuck place.
Experts said that the short-term supply of meltblown cloth is closely related to the large investment in new meltblown equipment and the long construction period. The production line of the meltblown cloth factory invests millions of yuan and tens of millions of yuan. Equipment manufacturing and installation are much more complicated than mask production equipment.
Li Lingshen, President of China Industrial Textile Industry Association: The production line also depends on some imports. At present, the matching of parts and components is difficult at present, making the cycle of new production lines all in 3 to 5 months. Therefore, everyone's confidence in long-term investment is not enough, after all, a lot of capacity will be idle after the epidemic.
Meltblown cloth shortage puts into production alternative materials to stabilize prices
The shortage of meltblown cloth has become one of the key factors for the tight supply of masks. How to fill this gap? When will this tension be eased?
The reporter learned from China National Chemical Corporation that in order to alleviate the current tight supply situation in the meltblown cloth market, they have recently developed a new alternative material that has been invested in mask production.
Niu Jing, Assistant Director of Technology Department of China Chemical Industry Group: It can be equivalent to N95 or KN95 standard isolation ability, and it has good air permeability and can be used multiple times.
This brand-new material called extruded polytetrafluoroethylene was originally used in high-end fields such as aerospace, and the price was relatively high. Recently, as the price of meltblown cloth continues to rise, it also has the market promotion conditions.
Yang Maoliang, General Manager of Haohua Technology, China Chemical Group: At present, our raw material prices are comparable to meltblown fabrics. Considering reusability, if all of them are put on the market, it will play a positive role in stabilizing the market price of raw materials for masks.
Li Lingshen, President of the China Industrial Textile Industry Association: If there are some new processes, new technologies, and new filter materials, it will also moderate the pressure on the current market.
In addition to the development of alternative products, 10 meltblown cloth production lines including Sinopec's emergency construction will be put into operation one after another, which will increase the production capacity by 18 tons per day, which is the raw material capacity required for 18 million masks.
Jiao Yang, deputy general manager of Sinopec Yanshan Petrochemical: The next step is to increase the size of two meltblown nozzles, which can double the output on the existing basis.
Industry insiders said that around the end of March, foreign meltblown cloth resources will also arrive one after another, and the situation of the shortage of domestic meltblown cloth will be improved.
Li Lingshen, President of China Industrial Textile Industry Association: It is estimated that by the end of March and early April, we can reach 200 tons of meltblown nonwoven materials per day, and we can make 200 to 250 million masks. We now use a term called tight balance. It should be said that the temporary emergency response can still be basically satisfied.
Lu Dapeng, a spokesperson for Sinopec: The factors of various parties will gradually increase the output of meltblown cloth, will ease the tension of meltblown cloth, and will also make the price of meltblown cloth rational.
Source: CCTV Finance (ID: cctvyscj)