Mask production capacity already overplus in China now

Mask production capacity already overplus in China now.  There is overcapacity in the epidemic prevention-related industry chain such as masks and protective gowns, but the outlook is still optimistic.

The 2020 COVID-19 epidemic has brought tremendous changes to China’s national defense epidemic textile industry. The production capacity and output of related products have increased dozens of times, or even hundreds of times, within a year, which has also greatly promoted the export of textile and apparel products.

According to public data, from March 2020 to the end of 2020, the country exported 224.2 billion masks, worth 340 billion yuan, including 65 billion medical masks, and 2.31 billion protective gowns, including 773 million medical protective gowns.

A few days ago, the China Industry Association conducted a questionnaire survey on “Relevant Suggestions for Optimizing the Development of the Anti-epidemic Textile Industry” to companies related to key epidemic prevention materials such as masks, protective gowns, and raw materials. As of January 11, 2021, a total of 22 provinces and regions have been received. There are 176 valid questionnaires in the city, and the sample data is representative.

The main points are as follows:

There is overcapacity related to epidemic prevention textiles. The overcapacity of raw materials such as spunbonded nonwovens and meltblown nonwovens is higher than that of masks and protective gown products. The layout of Chinese anti-epidemic textiles has room for further optimization.

The production and operation conditions of the sample companies in 2020 are generally good, and there are optimistic expectations for 2021, and most companies will maintain stable production capacity in the next three years.

The demands of the sample companies mainly focus on market supervision, emergency reserves, and technological upgrading. In addition, there is also a strong demand for cultivating incremental markets.

The basic situation and detailed analysis of the questionnaire are as follows:

1. Basic situation of the enterprise

The basic situation of enterprises: the surveyed enterprises come from 22 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. As shown in Figure 1, the distribution of the top five is: Jiangsu 43 (24%), Guangdong 26 (14%), Zhejiang 17 (9 %), 16 in Shandong (9%), and 10 in Fujian (5%). To a certain extent, their distribution is basically consistent with the domestic distribution of national epidemic prevention textile companies, and the sample data is somewhat representative.

The survey sample companies cover 8 types of companies including comprehensive anti-epidemic textiles, mask products, protective gown products, spunbonded spunlace nonwovens, meltblown nonwovens, other raw materials, and scientific research institutions. Manufacturers of masks and protective gown products accounted for 47% of the total, and companies related to masks and protective gowns that were operating normally before the epidemic accounted for 41%. 79% of the statistical companies are companies established in 2016 and before.

(1) Type of business

In terms of business types, the sample companies involved the entire industrial chain of epidemic prevention textiles. As shown in Figure 2, 30% of the companies are comprehensive companies. Such companies usually produce masks/protective gown and non-woven fabrics at the same time. 11% of companies produce masks separately, and 5% of companies produce protective gown separately. There are 83 companies (47%) in total.

Spunbond, spunlace and other non-woven fabric companies accounted for 15%, meltblown non-woven fabric companies accounted for 11%, breathable film, non-woven fabric equipment and components, mask machine and sticking machine, mask tape, nose clip and other raw materials and Equipment companies accounted for 20%, university scientific research units accounted for 3%, and trade and circulation companies accounted for 2%. Among the companies related to masks and protective gowns, 42% were existing companies that were operating normally before the epidemic, and the rest (52%) were conversion companies related to epidemic prevention textiles such as raw materials, gowns, home textiles, hygiene products, and food after the epidemic.

(2) When the company was established

In terms of company establishment time, 14 of the questionnaire companies (8%) are newly established companies in 2020, and 19 are companies established in 2017-2019, and most of them are existing companies established in 2016 and before. As shown in Figure 3. From the data point of view, fewer newly established companies will participate in the survey in 2020.

2. Production and operation status and expectations

The production and operation conditions of the sample companies in 2020 are generally good, and there are optimistic expectations for 2021, and most companies will maintain stable production capacity in the next three years.

As shown in Figure 4, in 2020, 64% of the companies in the masks and protective gown sector have relatively good production and operation (37%) or very good (27%). As shown in Figure 5, 53% of the companies expect to produce and operate in 2021 The situation is better (39%) or very good (14%). The production and operation in 2021 is expected to decline compared to 2020. In terms of investment plans, 53% of companies choose to maintain stable production capacity in 2021-2023, 20% of companies plan to increase investment in the field of anti-epidemic textiles, and only 9% of companies will gradually withdraw.

3. Capacity and layout

In terms of production capacity and layout, more than half of the companies believe that the production capacity of anti-epidemic textiles is excessive, and some companies believe that the production capacity of high-end products is insufficient, and the industrial chain layout is reasonable or very reasonable. On the whole, it is believed that there is an overcapacity related to epidemic prevention textiles, and the overcapacity of raw materials such as spunbonded nonwovens and meltblown nonwovens is higher than that of masks and protective gown products.

60% of companies believe that there is overcapacity of masks and protective gown products, and 29% of companies believe that despite the overcapacity, high-end products are undercapacity, and only 1% believe that the production capacity is insufficient. 64% of companies believe that meltblown nonwovens, spunbonded nonwovens and other raw materials have overcapacity, and 28% believe that high-grade meltblown nonwovens have insufficient production capacity. Regarding the industrial chain layout of masks and protective gown, only 18% of companies believe that the industrial chain layout of masks and protective gown is reasonable (13%) or very reasonable (5%).

4. Development Appeal

In the short term, the demands of enterprises mainly focus on market supervision, emergency reserves, and technological upgrading. In the long run, in addition to market supervision and technological upgrading, companies have a strong demand for cultivating incremental markets, and their demand for emergency reserves has been relatively weakened. This is obviously different from short-term demands.

In terms of the most pressing issues for the short-term healthy development of the industry, as shown in Figure 6, the improvement of market supervision and supervision, the establishment of a sound emergency reserve of anti-epidemic textiles, the improvement of the industry’s technical competitiveness, the increase of industry technical research, the cultivation of local brands, the cultivation of the market, and the absorption of excess capacity Among the 6 issues of improving the regional layout of the industrial chain, the top 3 issues are: 55% of companies recommend improving market supervision and supervision, 53% of companies recommend establishing and perfecting emergency reserves of anti-epidemic textiles, and 51% of companies recommending increasing industry technology competition Strengthen the technological breakthroughs in the industry.

In terms of the most effective recommended measures for the long-term healthy development of the industry, as shown in Figure 7, the policy guides and fosters incremental markets, guides and encourages industry technology upgrades, establishes emergency reserves for epidemic prevention textiles, optimizes the production layout of epidemic prevention textiles, and strengthens supervision and regulation of the epidemic prevention textile market. Among the five measures of the stock market, the top three are: 60% of the companies recommend fostering an incremental market, 44% of the companies recommend standardizing the stock market, and 44% of the recommendations encourage industry technology upgrades.

In terms of other suggestions, the questionnaire companies put forward some opinions and suggestions on guiding the green development of the industry, increasing talent cultivation, strengthening price guidance, and strengthening the construction of public service platforms.

Conclusion:

Based on the survey results of the above questionnaire, after the anti-epidemic textile industries such as masks and protective gown have undergone tremendous changes in the industry, most companies will have better production and operations in 2020, and their expectations for 2021 are not pessimistic, but there is overcapacity and poor industrial chain layout. Reasonable conditions exist in reality, and various enterprises in the future development industry chain also have different demands.

The survey has the following preliminary conclusions:

1. In terms of production capacity and layout, there is an excess of production capacity related to epidemic prevention textiles, and the layout of China epidemic prevention textiles has room for further optimization. The industrial chain is mostly concentrated in economically developed regions such as South China, East China, Beijing and Tianjin, and less developed provinces. In terms of product types, the production capacity and layout of comprehensive enterprises and product manufacturers in South and East China are more concentrated, and the raw materials in North and Central China are more concentrated. In Northeast, Northwest, Southwest and other provinces, due to the small number of related enterprises, the irrational layout may be more obvious.

2. In terms of production and operation, the general production and operation of comprehensive enterprises in 2020 are relatively good. Most of these enterprises were established in 2016 or before; the newly established meltblown nonwovens production enterprises have a large proportion of unsatisfactory production and operation conditions. Non-woven fabrics, accessories, equipment and other anti-epidemic textile related companies, non-manufacturing companies and other companies that switch to production of masks and protective gown products are generally not satisfactory compared with other companies. The production and operation of various companies in 2020 will affect their production and operation in 2021. Production and operation expectations.

3. In terms of investment willingness, among the industry chain companies, companies with better production and operation in 2020 tend to increase investment. Most companies with unsatisfactory production and operation choose to reduce production and storage capacity, or even withdraw gradually.

4. In terms of corporate appeals, corporate appeals mainly focus on market supervision, incremental market cultivation, emergency reserves, and technological upgrading. Among the related demands, all companies in the short-term industry chain generally agree that it is necessary to strengthen market supervision and supervision, establish emergency reserves and improve industry competitiveness. Companies in the long-term industrial chain generally believe that it is necessary to strengthen market supervision, guide technology upgrades, and cultivate incremental markets. Masks and protective gown companies are more concerned than other companies in establishing emergency reserves of epidemic prevention textiles and optimizing the layout of the epidemic prevention textile industry.

In summary, the current rapid development of anti-epidemic textiles such as masks and protective gown has caused overcapacity and unreasonable layout problems that need to be paid attention to. In the future, various measures need to be taken to optimize the industrial layout of anti-epidemic textiles and adjust production capacity reasonably. Structure, appropriately develop and cultivate incremental markets, and improve the overall technological competitiveness of the industry. This is of great significance for improving the emergency rescue capabilities of public health emergencies, enhancing the level of resistance to risks of the whole society, ensuring the safety of people’s lives and property, and maintaining national public health safety.

(source:internet, reference only)

Disclaimer of medicaltrend.org