Coronavirus: wheels come off China’s mask-making gravy train, as low-end manufacturers count their losses
- Tens of thousands of opportunist manufacturers entered China’s mask-making industry to capitalise of the boom during the coronavirus pandemic
- But the gravy train has ground to a halt for some producers of meltblown and nonwoven fabric, who have been forced to shut their factories
In April, as China’s mask-making juggernaut was cranking up, Changzhou machinery part manufacturer Mo Xiaoyi stockpiled meltblown fabric and nonwoven fabric, both essential mask materials, at peak prices.
Sixty kilometres away in Yangzhong, a small island in Jiangsu province, furniture maker Mr Li invested more than 2 million yuan (US$282,685) in six meltblown production lines, but could not manufacture a single inch of fabric before local authorities closed his factory down.
Both men have been left with materials and equipment that are virtually worthless, falling well short of the windfall they had expected when clambering aboard China’s face mask gravy train, only to find that the wheels were already coming off.
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“A few months ago, everybody here was making meltblown and thrilled at the daily influx of cash. Now, the people walking in the street are miserable,” said Li, who declined to give his full name.