The spread of the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic has driven the global shortage of disposable latex gloves for medical use. The supply of nitrile latex (NBR) at the raw material end is tight and the spot is hard to find. The orders for nitrile latex have seen next year, and the quotations have skyrocketed month by month.
Affected by the epidemic, there is a shortage of latex gloves in all parts of the world. The global latex glove factory has received orders in the first quarter of next year, and even received a deposit from the customer first. However, because the supply of nitrile latex at the raw material end is still in short supply, the order delivery date has been delayed (delayed) To 300-600 days, "There is an order, but the goods cannot be delivered".
Not only that, the price of butadiene, the raw material for nitrile latex, has rebounded strongly from US$400 per metric ton in May and June this year as the tire industry slowly recovered to the current US$700-800, an increase of 75% to 1 Times, latex factories also reflect the cost of raw materials.
The latex factory said that last year, the average price of nitrile latex per metric ton fell between US$900-1,100. In September of this year, the price has risen to US$1,500 per metric ton. Small orders of 100-200 metric tons have even reached US$2,000 per metric ton. The gains are amazing.
Shenfeng (6582), a major supplier of nitrile latex, said that latex gloves are out of stock globally, and the production capacity of nitrile latex is still in short supply. Shenfeng’s current quotation strategy adopts one-month and one-month signing, and the price will increase as much as the raw material rises. The current order has been talked about next year.
Nandi (2108), a chemical factory with latex as the main product, has also increased its nitrile latex quotations from its Zhenjiang plant and Taiwan plant. The Taiwan plant’s quotation in September rose by 3-5%; China’s Zhenjiang plant has, since July, The weekly quotation of nitrile latex has also risen sharply. At the beginning of August, the price per ton was RMB 12,000. Now it has soared to RMB 20,000, an increase of nearly 70% in just one month.
In response to the surge in demand for latex gloves in the market, many manufacturers have converted the production capacity of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) to nitrile butadiene latex (NBR) with better price and profit; many latex factories have also reported that they have been closed and stopped exporting. Quotation is based on "one single talk".
Manufacturers observe that although LG Chem will invest in the nitrile latex plant next year, and the Nandi Zhenjiang plant will also expand the nitrile latex production capacity. The production capacity will increase from 265,000 tons last year to about 330,000 tons next year, but it is still not enough. Market demand, the demand for nitrile latex in the coming year will continue to be in a peak period in short supply. To
