China virus triggers global rush for protective masks
30/01/2020 14:49
By Joyce Lee and Lusha Zhang
SEOUL/BEIJING, Jan 30 (Reuters) - From South Korea to the
Czech Republic, China's coronavirus outbreak has triggered a
massive surge in demand for protective masks, with factories
scrambling to fill orders and shops selling out.
The virus, which first appeared in the Chinese city of
Wuhan, has killed 170 people and infected more than 8,000. It
spreads through droplets from coughs and sneezes. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N29Y5DF
Fears of infection have sent people rushing to pharmacies.
In Hong Kong's Kowloon district, anxious residents queued for
seven hours on Thursday only to discover stores had sold out of
masks. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N29Z0Q0
Manufacturers have had to ramp up production, with some
running factories 24 hours a day.
"We are considering increasing shifts to two, three in order
to meet demand but capacity is limited, there's only so much we
can do," said an official at Kukje Pharma Co 002720.KS , a
South Korean mask manufacturer.
The company has received a rush of orders for "tens of
millions of masks" since Jan. 24, he said.
In China, many factories are reopening from their Lunar New
Year break and calling back workers from their holidays.
CMmask, a Chinese mask maker that supplies 30% of the
domestic market, is receiving daily orders for 5 million masks,
more than 10 times its usual level.
Hu Qinghui, CMmask's deputy general manager, said its
stockpile of more than 10 million masks was exhausted last week.
It has resumed production and called back more than 130 workers
with offers to triple their wages.
"The whole thing is so unexpected. We actually had a tough
year in 2019 due to soft demand as air quality is getting better
across the country," Hu said.
However, just 40% of China's mask factories, which supply
half of global demand, have resumed production, an industry
ministry official told the state-run People's Daily newspaper.
As the global shortage worsened, Pardam, a Czech Republic
mask manufacturer, has seen orders from Asia and Europe increase
sharply.
"We are absolutely sold out," said R&D specialist Jana
Ruzickova. "Now we are trying our best to increase our
production."
"Demand ... increased in the last four days by 57,000%. This
number cannot be accommodated, even by any well-established firm
in the world."
In Turkey, Erol Memis of Era Respiratory Masks near Istanbul
said the company had been working round the clock since
receiving its first order from China on Thursday.
Era had also received inquiries from Switzerland, France,
Belgium, Georgia, Armenia and Egypt. "It is not possible for us
to complete every request," Memis said.
Amid heightened anxieties about the virus, retailers and
authorities have sought to stop hoarding and price gouging.
Taiwan announced a one-month ban on the export of specialist
masks, while Singapore's largest supermarket chain NTUC
Fairprice has limited customer purchases. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N29X1TZ
In China, a Beijing drugstore was fined 3 million yuan
($435,000) for hiking mask prices by almost six times.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N29Y0P1
Meanwhile, the spike in demand has provided a massive boost
for shares of mask makers, with Japan's Kawamoto Corp 3604.T
up nearly six-fold to a record high. In South Korea, Kukje and
Monalisa Co Ltd 012690.KS rose 58% and 86%, respectively.
(Additional reporting by John Geddie in Singapore, Joseph
Campbell in Hong Kong, Ali Kucukgocmen in Istanbul and Jan
Lopatka in Prague; Editing by Miyoung Kim, Sam Holmes and Giles
Elgood)
((jungyoon.lee@tr.com; +82 2 6936 1467;))