This article comes from WeChat public account: China Business Daily (ID: chinabusinessjournal) , author: Haojia Qi
The meltblown non-woven fabric is the key material for the filtering function of the mask, and is called the “heart” of the medical mask. Under normal circumstances, one ton of meltblown cloth can produce 300,000 to 400,000 medical masks.
During the epidemic, the price of meltblown cloth soared, from 20,000 yuan to 400,000 yuan per ton. This is not only determined by the relationship between supply and demand. Manufacturers and middlemen increase their profits by increasing prices, and they have also become the driving force behind high prices.
The tight supply of meltblown cloth puts pressure on the downstream mask industry. Some mask companies even come up with the method of “mask change for meltblown cloth” to relieve the urgent need. Some local governments have also issued policies to subsidize the purchase of mask factories for meltblown cloth.
A company has been checked for price increases
Recently, a self-proclaimed Xiantao Hengtian Jiahua Nonwoven Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Hengtian Jiahua”) Reported to the reporter of China Business Daily that the company used the market monopoly position to drive up the price of meltblown cloth.
The report wrote: “During the epidemic, Hengtian Jiahua, as the largest meltblown cloth manufacturer in Xiantao City, ignored national laws and regulations and hoarded it. Before the epidemic, the company sold meltblown cloth at a price of 2 per ton. Around 10,000 yuan, the peak of the epidemic reached 450,000 yuan / ton. “
Hengtian Jiahua announced that on January 26, the company resumed emergency production and resumed production. The company spun off five spunmelt production lines for rapid expansion and expansion, producing filter layers for masks and non-woven fabrics for inner and outer layers, and expanded the mask production line rapidly. As of March 1, the company has produced a total of 2747.3 tons of nonwoven materials for medical masks and protective clothing.There were 16.64 million facial surgical masks. From the beginning of February to March 6, a total of 609.1 tons of meltblown cloth were produced.
According to this rough calculation, If Hengtian Jiahua sells all meltblown cloths at the price of 300,000 to 400,000 yuan / ton, it will make a profit of over 100 million yuan.
On March 25, the reporter contacted a salesperson of the company as a buyer. He said, “No, there is no meltblown cloth at the moment. It will not be available until a month later.” As for the price, he said, “One price per day, the price is hard to say.”
The reporter dialed the phone of Hengtian Jiahua’s official website and asked about the price of meltblown cloth. The staff member said, “We don’t sell meltblown cloths now, and they are controlled by the government.” The reporter said that she had received the report materials from the company. She said: “Then you go to report us.” The reporter asked, “How much did you sell before? Ton? “She responded,” Go and ask the government, since the report materials you received are so complete. “
On March 25, a director of Xingtao Market Supervision and Administration Bureau, with a surname of Li, said in an interview with this newspaper: “We received a report two days ago, and launched an investigation on Hengtian Ka Wah Company and found that it did indeed drive up prices. He said that the Hubei Provincial Market Supervision and Administration Bureau and the Xiantao City Supervision and Administration Bureau set up a joint task force. The investigation has ended on the 25th, and no decision has been made on the punishment.
The reporter asked Hengtian Kahua’s illegal profit and whether it involved economic crimes. Director Li said that these circumstances were not disclosed for the time being, and the supervisory department would publicize it later.
The reporter noted that Hengtian Jiahua issued a statement on March 15 this year, stating: “Our company produces and sells meltblown non-woven fabrics and is willing to accept the supervision of units, groups and individuals from all walks of life. During the epidemic, our company The melt-blown non-woven fabrics for masks produced are uniformly allocated by government departments and sold in strict accordance with government-guided prices. “
The company was established in 2011 by China Textile Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Hengtian Group Co., Ltd. (holding) and Xiantao City Jiahua Plastic Products Co., Ltd. (shareholding) is jointly invested and established. It is a high-tech enterprise in Hubei Province and a director unit of China Industrial Textile Industry Association. Sky eye inspection shows that China Hengtian Group is a central enterprise.
Xiantao is known as “Nonwovens Town” and “Nonwoven Industry City”. On February 4, Xiantao City issued the “On Further Regulating the Production of Non-woven Fabric Enterprises””Statement of Order Work” identified 60 key manufacturers of epidemic prevention and control materials, including Hengtian Jiahua, and used them as supporting enterprises for the production of medical protective clothing and disposable medical masks.
According to the reporter, the ministries and commissions at the national level have noticed the price increase of meltblown cloth, and have launched a special investigation. At the beginning of March, the State Administration of Market Supervision and Administration issued an “urgent notice” to carry out a special investigation on the price of meltblown non-woven fabrics to 8 provinces and cities, including Tianjin and Shanghai, requiring local market supervision authorities to respond to the issue from March 5 to March 10. Designated enterprises conduct special surveys on the price of meltblown nonwovens.
The State Administration of Market Supervision and Administration also requested in the above notice that “ Key investigations of designated meltblown nonwovens companies will give priority to handling meltblown nonwovens price complaints. Anyone who violates the law shall be investigated and dealt with in accordance with the law. strong> “
On March 10th, the State Administration of Market Supervision disclosed on the official website two acts of driving up the price of meltblown cloth: on March 7th, the State Administration of Market Supervision initiated a case investigation into Shenzhen Fun Fashion Sports Products Co., Ltd. After investigation, Dongguan Dacheng Filter Material Co., Ltd. sold the meltblown cloth to a natural person Rao Mou at a price of 180,000 yuan per ton without the apparent increase in the price of the upstream raw materials; Rao Mou changed hands at a price of 300,000 yuan per ton. Sold to Shenzhen Fun Fashion Sports Goods Co., Ltd .; Shenzhen Fun Fashion Sports Goods Co., Ltd. was sold at a price of 450,000 yuan per ton.
On March 10, the General Administration of Market Supervision initiated an investigation into Shenzhen Hengyi Digital Printing Co., Ltd. After investigation, on February 15, the company purchased a batch of Indian-made fusion non-woven fabrics at a price of 90,000 yuan per ton from a company in Hubei Province at 165,000 yuan, 170,000 yuan and 260,000 yuan per ton, respectively. The price is sold to enterprises in Anyuan County, Foshan City, Shenzhen and other places in Ganzhou City. On March 2, Shenzhen Hengyi Digital Printing Co., Ltd. was sold to Dongguan Demi Nano Technology Co., Ltd. at a price of 100,000 yuan per ton on the basis of profit sharing conditions, which was then sold at a price of 200,000 yuan per ton. Out.
The General Administration of Market Supervision said that in order to drive up the price of meltblown cloth, the General Administration attached great importance to it, and jointly with the Ministry of Public Security investigated and punished illegal acts that disrupted the order of the price of meltblown cloth, and resolutely cut off the illegal chain that pushed up the price of meltblown cloth.
The reporter learned that according to the investigation, the Dongguan Municipal Market Supervision and Administration Bureau has recently transferred the case of Dongguan Dacheng Filter Material Co., Ltd. to the public security organ. On March 26, a person from the company told reporters that the company has stopped the production and sale of meltblown cloth after government supervision, but because the government did not provide a guide price for meltblown cloth, the company had difficulty understanding the basis of the punishment.
Downstream mask industry is under pressure
A person in Shanghai who is selling meltblown cloth at 240,000 yuan / ton told reporters that the current price of meltblown cloth sold by manufacturers is more than 200,000 yuan per ton. Traders buy 300,000 ~ 400,000 Sell at the price of RMB / ton and earn the difference.
The reporter contacted a person in charge of a meltblown cloth manufacturer in Guangzhou as a buyer. He said that the price of meltblown cloth before the epidemic was 20,000 ~ 30,000 yuan / ton. During the epidemic, the demand increased rapidly and the price increased rapidly. Medical meltblown cloth The selling price is 360,000 ~ 380,000 yuan / ton. He expected that meltblown cloth prices would fall sharply after the epidemic.
According to a report from Beijing Puhua Youce Information Consulting Co., Ltd., the upstream of the meltblown cloth industry chain is polypropylene, polyurethane, polyamide, etc., and the midstream industry is the production, sales, and transportation of meltblown cloth. The downstream includes medical and health care. , Industrial materials, etc.
Compared to the sharp increase in the price of meltblown cloth, how much has its raw material price increased?
The aforementioned report wrote: “Before the epidemic, (Hengtian Jiahua) The price of polypropylene for the production of meltblown cloth was 6346. Yuan / ton, during the epidemic rose to 7680 yuan / ton, the price fluctuated around 1,000 yuan. “
The reporter contacted a meltblown polypropylene seller in Shanghai. He stated that the price ranged from 7,000 to 9,000 yuan / ton, and the price was not much different from before the epidemic.
The price of upstream meltblown cloth has risen, which has caused the profit of the downstream mask industry to drop sharply.
The reporter noticed that in the small program “Clients of the State Council” “Special supply and demand docking area for production and supply of key medical prevention and control materials”, many mask companies have announced the need to purchase meltblown cloth. Hainan Lianghang Medical Industry Co., Ltd. also released the demand of “want to exchange meltblown masks”: “We are a mask factory and want to replace meltblown with our disposable protective masks.”
Ms. Yao, an employee of this company, told reporters: “The meltblown we imported didn’t arrive, so I wanted to replace one or two tons first. Many people contacted me. Our import price is within 300,000 yuan / ton. .Now the domestic meltblown spot is 350,000 ~ 380,000 yuan, and the price has dropped a bit, not as high as 400,000 ~ 500,000 yuan before. “
Ms. Yao said: “Before the epidemic, 20,000 to 30,000 yuan / ton was the normal price. After the outbreak, the price of masking machines and other production equipment and raw materials have risen, and the cost of mask production is too high. < / strong> We have nowThe melt-blown cloth production line is under construction, reducing costs and reducing the price of masks. “
Some local governments have also issued industrial support policies to subsidize mask factories that purchase meltblown cloth. For example, Putian City Industrial and Information Bureau and the Development and Reform Commission jointly issued a document on February 17 stating that since February 15th, qualified meltblown cloths with a filtration rate of more than 95% will be based on 120,000 yuan per ton and purchased before March 1. If it is in place, it will be subsidized at 90% of the excess; if it is in place before April 1, it will be subsidized at 60% of the excess.
Although no local government has issued a guide price for meltblown cloth, from the subsidy base of Putian City, it can be seen that 120,000 yuan / ton is the local “red line” for meltblown cloth.
Productivity has been released to the maximum
Han Jing, head of the Information and Propaganda Department of the China Industrial Textiles Industry Association, told reporters: “ The current shortage of meltblown nonwovens is that it is difficult to increase the capacity of meltblown nonwovens in the short term and the surge in downstream mask capacity And other reasons. “
A report provided by the association to the reporter states that although the meltblown cloth production capacity has been released to the maximum, the price has risen rapidly due to the contradiction between supply and demand. The main factors are: First, the increase in factor costs. (raw materials, electricity, labor, transportation, etc.) ; the second is the increase in conversion costs. On the one hand, the original meltblown cloth has a large loss of production capacity from thick to thin conversion, and the investment in transformation. The cost is high. On the other hand, the process of the SMS (spunbond meltblown composite fabric) production line is modified to shut down the production of S layer single M Layer, high allocation and low use, large capacity loss, high cost accounting; Third, there are more price increases in the field of distribution, under the mask of high profits and the lack of expected supply of raw materials, resulting in rapid rise in melt-blown cloth prices.
Association reports show that, Under the condition that the supply of meltblown cloth is tight and it is difficult to reconcile for a short period of time, there have been a number of middlemen who bought, sold, and hoarded the prices. Some people will use meltblown cloth without electret that cannot be used for mask filter layer. (Filter effect is only 20%) , sell For newly-launched mask companies, even taking spunbond as a melt-spun cloth for resale and gaining huge profits, I hope that enterprises will be more vigilant when purchasing raw materials.
The report said: “Previously, the daily output of meltblown cloth for masks was more than 30 tons. As enterprises accelerated investment in the construction of meltblown cloth production lines to increase production capacity, the original meltblown production enterprises that produced automobile sound insulation materials, thermal insulation materials and oil absorption materials passed Technical transformation and conversion of filter materials for masks (Daily output can reach about 100 tons) . The original SMS fabric manufacturer adjusted the production process, which can be added daily. The production capacity of spray cloth is about 60 tons. On the whole, the daily production capacity of meltblown cloth will reach about 200 tons, which can meet about 200 million flat masks or 60 million medical protective masks, which can meet the minimum demand in total. “
The Association urges companies in the industry to actively respond to the national call to protect national emergency protection supplies with priority, high quality and competitive prices. Under the premise of ensuring product quality, strictly control production costs, reduce circulation links, eliminate market speculation, and maintain market order. .
The association also recommends that the meltblown nonwoven process, as a special high-melt-finger ultrafine fiber molding process, has not received enough attention from the state and society, and it is recommended that the country introduce idle capacity for such emergency supplies after the epidemic To give certain protective policies.
The reporter noticed that the “Price Law of the People’s Republic of China” stipulates that manipulating market prices and infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of other operators or consumers, ordering corrections, confiscation of illegal income, and concurrently impose a fine of five times the illegal income. If the circumstances are serious, the company shall be ordered to suspend business for rectification, or its business license shall be revoked by the administrative authority for industry and commerce.
Based on the “Price Law”, on February 10 this year, the two high and two ministries issued the “Opinions on Punishing and Preventing Illegal Crimes Influencing New Coronavirus Infection and Pneumonia Epidemic Prevention” according to the law: “ During the period, in violation of relevant state market operation, price management and other regulations, hoarding, and drove up the price of masks, goggles, protective clothing, disinfectant and other protective supplies, medicines or other items related to people’s livelihood, which were urgently needed for epidemic prevention and control, and made huge profits and illegal income If it is serious or has other serious circumstances that seriously disrupt the market order, it shall be convicted and punished for the crime of illegal business in accordance with Article 225, Paragraph 4 of the Criminal Law. “
The meltblown cloth uses high-speed hot air flow to draw the fine polymer melt stream extruded from the spinneret of the die to form superfine fibers. (diameter is about 1 ~ 5 microns) and collected on the net curtain or roller, and self-adhesive at the same time. Compared with textile fabrics, its filterability and shielding are extremely high.
In addition to the medical field, meltblown cloth alsoCan be used in air purifiers, liquid filter materials, battery separators, and thermal insulation materials. In daily life, some gift bags are also made of meltblown cloth.
This article comes from WeChat public account: China Business Daily (ID: chinabusinessjournal) , author: Haojia Qi