China News Service Client, Beijing, May 14th (Zuo Yukun) In previous years, spring and summer alternated between warm and cold. We wore trousers and took off trousers; this time this year, the epidemic is stable and the temperature is rising. Take off the mask.
With the improvement of the domestic epidemic prevention and control situation, it is no longer necessary to wear masks in occasions with few people and ventilation. Was the mask industry, which once hit the watch hot, continued to rise with the temperature, or was it going to be "cool"?
In the post-mask era, can masks be sold?
"The recent shipments are indeed much more plentiful. At the beginning of the outbreak, there was really no mask on hand. No matter what brand or model, when someone heard the word" mask ", someone threw it up." Distributor Mr. Liu told Chinanews.com that recently the inventory of masks in his warehouse has finally come up a lot.
Data Map: A mask manufacturer in Jinxian County, Jiangxi, is increasing horsepower production. Photo by Wan Zhaohui
Since the outbreak, a lot of "peers" have appeared in Mr. Liu's circle of friends: "What do skateboards and headphones do? Everyone talks about how to apply for mask production qualification and how to increase the speed. There is also 3D printing. Yes, I do n’t think it ’s possible for him to make a mask. As a result, he also started to make a mask machine. As for those who do n’t have a way to make masks, they started to help sell masks and transport masks. "
"We are now called the" post-mask era ". The most important thing is safety. There will definitely be some small workshop owners who want to get rich and use unqualified raw materials to make masks. The market of masks is now said by Mr. Liu The situation has stabilized and the investigation by the relevant departments has become stricter. With the supply of goods, they first look at the qualification without talking about the price.
In Mr. Liu's view, the most stable market conditions are still big brands. "Some well-known and high-level protections will be snatched out as soon as they are available."
The 3M mask statement also confirms Mr. Liu's point of view. A person in charge of 3M China told a reporter from China News that 3M is still increasing its production capacity and making full efforts. "China's epidemic prevention and control situation is positive, but the global epidemic still faces challenges, and we are still fully organizing the export of protective masks."
Face masks go international, relying on exports to earn 10 million a month?
3M is trying its best to export, and many foreign trade merchants are thinking about selling the goods abroad. Rumors of "three days back to the capital and ten million monthly income" abound. Mr. Liu said that now when playing mask advertisements in the circle of friends, we must add a sentence "in line with export standards", because this is currently the most concerned issue for everyone.
Mask ads in the circle of friends. Photo courtesy of interviewees
"It is true that some friends who do foreign trade have earned more than 2 million in the past few months, but they are worried every day, and they are still owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. This money is not easy to earn!" Mr. Liu lamented.
The epidemic has severely hindered international logistics, and air transportation has encountered great challenges. "How difficult is it to export now? Take the freight forwarding for export, one hundred kilograms per kilogram, the freight has not moved for more than half a month, said the customs inspection for a while, said that there is no flight in the warehouse, and the customer can't wait to return the goods."
Air transportation is difficult, what about shipping? Equally difficult. "Foreign factories are not going to work, and no one is loading at the port. The loading is not timely and the goods cannot be shipped." A staff member responsible for shipping at a foreign trade company told China News that not only the efficiency has dropped greatly, but the ship The number is also much less. "We can't book on board at all. We want to ship goods from Japan. If we book a boat one month in advance, we can only book it one week later."
Logistics is difficult on the one hand, and the benefits are not too great. "I learned that some people sell a disposable mask for 2 cents, and KN95 masks for 5 cents. Some do n’t count on the commission, and sell it directly to count a few points of the total value. Now there are three Five points are good. "Mr. Liu mentioned," Recently BYD has had an accident. Such a large company is not easy to do, and small business is even more difficult. "
BYD "jumped by fairy" in the US? Mask standard raises waves again
Mr. Liu ’s “problem” BYD has really set off an uproar in the mask industry recently.
The incident originated from a mask order signed by the US government of California and BYD in April for more than 1 billion US dollars. The California government plans to purchase 300 million N95 masks and 100 million medical surgical masks from BYD within 2 months, and prepaid 495 million. US dollars.
According to media reports, due to the failure of the N95 masks to obtain NIOSH (National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) certification as of April 30th, BYD needs to wait for the certification to be passed in order to complete the delivery of the goods. Half of it, $ 247 million. This caused strong online attention and was even described as BYD encountering an "American fairy jump".
However, BYD responded that the refund was only a minor episode, the $ 1 billion order was not cancelled, and the NIOSH certification deadline has been postponed to the end of May. In addition, the California government is very satisfied with the medical surgical mask that BYD has already delivered, and has added an order for 100 million masks.
However, according to the latest report from the US media, on the 13th local time, NIOSH rejected BYD ’s N95 mask license application, which may cause certain impact on the transaction. In this regard, a person familiar with BYD said to the World Wide Web: "NIOSH has not rejected the N95 mask application for permission, and we will continue to add information."
BYD mask production line. Photo courtesy of BYD
In the final analysis, BYD's "vignettes" are still about the quality standards of masks. Almost at the same time that BYD was "refunded", the same piece of news about the standard of the mask once again pushed the exit of the mask to the cusp of the storm.
According to Reuters, the FDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) last month authorized the use of a batch of masks made in China and tested by an accredited independent laboratory without being tested by the relevant US authorities. However, on May 7, the latest test released by NIOSH found that about 60% of 67 different types of imported N95 masks did not meet the standard.
So on the same day, the FDA withdrew the permission of more than 60 Chinese manufacturers to export N95 masks to the United States, reducing the number of Chinese manufacturers approved to produce N95 masks for the United States from about 80 to 14.
It is worth noting that BYD ’s permission has not been withdrawn. Some netizens said that this is also a recognition of the quality of the BYD masks that have become monks.
"Mask fever" is at low tide, and quality is essential
According to the Ministry of Commerce, since April, the export of China ’s defense epidemic materials has shown a significant increase. From March 1st to May 6th, China has exported anti-epidemic materials to 194 countries and regions through market-based procurement. 77 countries and regions governments and 6 international organizations signed 216 batches with me through official channels Commercial procurement contract for secondary medical materials.
There is no doubt that China has become one of the world's important producers and suppliers of anti-epidemic medical materials, and relevant departments have also paid more attention to the export quality of anti-epidemic materials. However, there are still some companies that take risks and illegally manufacture and sell medical materials such as masks. On May 9, the General Administration of Customs notified 16 enterprises with export problems in medical supplies.
Guangzhou Customs seized more than 1.92 million "problem" masks. Wang Kaishe
On May 12, the Ministry of Commerce issued a notice stating that the export of anti-epidemic materials in the form of market purchase trade will be suspended, which also means that it will be more difficult to export anti-epidemic materials for masks. For domestic sellers, compliance is the most critical issue.
"The mask business is nearing its end, and you need to be cautious when you enter." According to data from AiMedia Consulting, affected by the epidemic, the output value of the mask industry in 2020 is expected to soar to 26 billion yuan, while in 2019 when there is no epidemic, the output value of the Chinese mask industry It is 10.24 billion yuan. It is not difficult to see that the normalized mask market after the epidemic will inevitably face a "big cooling".
"The pattern of the mask industry, which is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, is changing. Now because of the saturation of demand, we cannot see a crisis. Once the supply exceeds the demand, the industry will face a very harsh survival of the fittest." Chen Hongyan, Secretary General of the Medical Devices Branch of the China Medical Materials Association said.
Whether it is a businessman who wants to catch up on a "night set" or a company that "admits" in advance, when the "mask fever" is gradually receding, it may be time to think calmly. (Finish)