Feb. 10 (NBD) – From January 1 to February 7, more than 3,000 companies added masks, disinfectants, clothes and other medical supplies for prevention and protection into the business range, according to Tianyancha, an enterprise intelligence platform in China.

National Business Daily (NBD) observed that Foxconn Technology Group, BYD (002594.SZ), SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile, Sinopec (600028.SH), etc. are among these companies. 

With the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia in China, the scarcity of masks has become a serious problem even though traditional mask manufacturers are accelerating the pace to enlarge the production.

Under such a circumstance, a number of companies from other industries have joined the effort to make masks.

Photo/Zhang Yuan (VCG-China News Service Shaanxi Branch)

Dearth of masks

"The worst thing I regret is not having bought more masks before the Lunar New Year, and both online and offline stores are now short of mask supplies," said Yan Ling who has worked in Beijing for years. She placed an order online on January 25, but was told nearly half a month later that all masks had been sold out.

NBD noticed that many Chinese large e-commerce platforms including JD.com, Taobao.com and NetEase Yanxuan are facing a supply shortage of surgical masks and N95 masks.

According to the statistics released by JD.com on January 23, 126 million masks were sold from January 19 to 22. The sales volume on January 22 alone was 48 times that of a single day before.

With regard to the scarcity of masks, Tian Yulong, chief engineer at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China (MIIT), noted on February 3 that China produces over 20 million masks daily at most. "China tops the world in terms of daily mask production capacity. We're able to ensure the supplies of surgical masks and N95 masks, but it takes time."  

MIIT said Saturday on Weibo that it takes only 0.5 second to produce a mask but 7-15 days to disinfect the mask to remove epoxyethane residue. This means masks made on January 25 might just be shipped for the market.

Cross-industry support

In such case, a number of companies have joined the effort to manufacture masks to meet the massive demand.

On February 6, Foxconn Technology Group announced that its subsidiary Foxconn Industrial Internet Co Ltd (601138.SH) has completed the trial production of masks and is now applying for the qualification. The company's daily production capacity is expected to total 2 million at the end of February.

"This batch of masks will be firstly offered to Foxconn's employees and the company will consider to support the society in the coming future," the announcement said. 

On the same day, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile and Sinopec also announced the plan to help with mask production.

SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile has set up 14 mask production lines and its daily production capacity is expected to exceed 1.7 million units, while Sinopec will provide raw materials to mask makers.

On Saturday, BYD unveiled that masks and disinfectants produced by the company will be put into the market on February 17 and the production capacity of masks is expected to reach 5 million units per day.

With regard to the companies' cross-industry practices, Pan Helin, executive chairman of the digital economic research institute of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, noted that it's an answer to the market need. 

"Mask manufacturing is a traditional industry with relatively low technological threshold and added value. This won't affect the companies' main business but gives a boost to their performance," Pan remarked.  

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn