Crazy meltblown cloth is bound to be a fatal fate
Crazy meltblown cloth is bound to be a fatal fateMeltblown cloth, the core material of protective masks, is known as the "heart" of masks. It has good filterability, shielding, heat insulation and oil absorption, and is an important raw material for the production of KN95 (N95) masks.
Its diameter is only one tenth of the diameter of the outer layer of the mask, which can effectively capture dust. When the droplets containing the virus are close to the meltblown cloth, they will also be electrostatically attracted to the surface and cannot penetrate.
Therefore, it is a necessary raw material for the production of filter masks. It turns out that the thin layer of cloth used to save our lives!
In just a few months, the meltblown fabric has been heated from 16,000 yuan per ton to a maximum price of 690,000 yuan per ton, which has increased 40 times. It has to be described as "crazy".
The skyrocketing prices have stirred up the tempting hearts of people, and countless people have rushed into this market, leading to chaos. After all, who can resist the temptation of the huge benefits of "one machine earning 50,000 a day"?
However, everything in the world is most afraid of the word "crazy", because the ancient philosophers have long issued a warning: "God wants to destroy it, he must first make it crazy." The surface of crazy often contains the tragedy of destruction, which seems to be Fate, the Dutch "Tulip Bubble" in the 17th century is a typical case.
So, will this melt-blown carnival escape the fatal fate?
Meltblown production chaos
The fourth national economic census data released in November 2019 showed that at the end of 2018, the total number of employees of legal entities and self-employed households in the country was 533 million. Full-scale resumption of production, based on one mask per person per day, requires at least 530 million masks per day.
At the same time, in addition to domestic rigid demand, there is also an urgent international demand. After all, the epidemic situation in foreign countries has intensified, and foreign governments have also changed their attitudes towards masks, leading to a surge in demand for masks.
According to customs statistics, from March 1 to April 4, the country exported a total of 10.2 billion yuan of major epidemic prevention and control materials, including about 3.86 billion masks, worth 7.72 billion yuan. The sudden increase in demand for masks has caused the core material melt-blown cloth to be "unavailable," pushing the price of melt-blown cloth to rise.
However, the investment in qualified meltblown cloth production equipment is large, requiring tens of millions of investment, and the production cycle is at least 3 months long. Not all companies have such strength and confidence to participate. Many companies have launched formal meltblown cloth production equipment. In a wait-and-see attitude.
However, huge demand has spawned huge profits in the industry, and there have been many cottage-made melt-blown cloth production machines on the market. These cottage machines are mostly in the form of home workshops. Is it true that melt-blown cloth production has no one to care about, as long as weaving like Then it's all right.
According to several media reports, due to market demand for blowouts, Yangzhong, Jiangsu, which was originally known for electrical engineering and blowfish cuisine, became a "town of meltblown cloth" overnight. In the information circle of major channel vendors, the order demand for meltblown fabrics is even more focused on Yangzhong.
Many netizens in Yangzhong said on Weibo: "Yangzhong is crazy about meltblown cloth, and it feels like a bunch of people in his hometown are doing this." "Making meltblown cloth is simply a money printing machine" ...
Yangzhong didn't actually have any manufacturers of meltblown fabrics. There were about two or three regular ones listed on the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's guarantee list, but the data shows that as of April 8, Yangzhong registered enterprises involved in the production and sales of meltblown fabrics. Has reached more than 800 households.
It is exaggerated that according to local media data, there were about 500 companies registered in Yangzhong on April 5, and more than 800 companies on April 8, an increase of 300 in just 3 days, which shows the madness of the time.
Behind the craziness is the temptation to get rich: the peak period, an injection molding machine 150,000, spinneret mold 80,000, commissioning and other accessories 30,000, the cost of a cottage melt-blown cloth production machine is 260,000, The daily production capacity of a set of machines is 0.12-0.15 tons. According to the melt-blown cloth market, the purchase price is 350,000-400,000, which is about 50,000 a day, and less than one week. As a result, under the windfall profits, the hearts of the people floated, the farmers left behind the slow agricultural work, the workers gave up stable jobs, the enterprises lost their foundations, and poured into this rich myth.
Yangzhong is just a microcosm of the meltblown cloth hype. In fact, in addition to Yangzhong, many provinces and cities also have many cottage production lines for meltblown cloth.
Crazy is not just melt-blown cloth, but more people's hearts.
The pusher behind the chaos
Increasing prices, hoarding strange
According to statistics from the China Industrial Textile Industry Association, in 2018, the domestic production of melt-blown nonwovens was 53,500 tons / year, and the daily output was 146.6 tons. And these melt-blown cloths are not only used for masks, but also for environmental protection materials, clothing materials, battery separator materials, wiping materials, etc.
In the production chain of masks, from polypropylene-meltblown material-meltblown cloth to masks, the domestic production capacity of upstream chemical raw materials polypropylene and meltblown materials are both in excess, and prices have remained stable. The meltblown cloth used for mask production is about 10,000 tons per year, and the daily output of large enterprises is about 10 tons. Under normal circumstances, market demand is relatively stable.
The meltblown fabric is now "difficult to find", but it derailed when the new corona virus attacked. On the one hand, Nojiko is prevalent, on the other hand, it is not available through regular channels. Who on earth robbed the meltblown road? Everyone's reply from the melt-blown cloth manufacturing enterprise is almost the same: out of stock.
But is it really out of stock?
On March 27, according to Xinhua News Agency, Sinopec, SINOMACH and other enterprises switched to increase production, and the output of meltblown fabrics increased rapidly. As of March 27, the daily supply of melt-blown fabrics of central enterprises has reached 42.5 tons, and the cumulative production supply of more than 1,000 tons of melt-blown fabrics is available for the production of 1 billion masks.
The 20 new production lines of Sinopec and PetroChina reached production capacity in April, and the daily production capacity of melt-blown cloth of central enterprises is expected to exceed 70 tons.
According to the information of China Industrial Textile Industry Association, it is estimated that the domestic daily production capacity of meltblown fabrics will reach about 200 tons at the end of March and early April, which can meet the needs of about 200 million plane masks or 60 million medical protective masks. Meet the minimum needs.
In fact, only a small amount of the meltblown fabric finally produced was allocated, and the other part was taken away by intermediaries. Even for individuals, the price was increased layer by layer, causing the terminal price to skyrocket to more than 600,000.
This also led to the price of goods received from production enterprises also increased to more than 300,000 tons.
Even the China Industrial Textiles Industry Association also stated that under the circumstances of tight supply of meltblown fabrics and difficult to reconcile in a short period of time, there have been a number of middlemen selling and selling, hoarding and raising prices.
The market was plunged into chaos due to the involvement of Downlord and the Cattle Party in the meltblown industrial chain. Since the shortage of goods is high, this has led to a large number of workshops without qualified production qualifications who urgently "transform" the production of meltblown fabrics in an attempt to make quick money.
But the meltblown fabrics produced by these small workshops are simply not qualified! Some people will sell melt-blown cloth that has no electret that can not be used in the filter layer of the mask (the filtration effect is only 20%), and sell it to newly-launched mask companies, or even sell it as a melt-blown cloth with a spunbond cloth. Profiteering.
Lack of production standards
On the one hand, it is driven by huge profits, on the other hand, there is currently a lack of special standards. After all, melt-blown cloth is not a medical device.
On April 11, Yangzhong City Market Supervision Bureau randomly selected the products of 8 meltblown fabric manufacturers and sent them to Jiangsu Guojian Testing Technology Co., Ltd. for testing (based on YY0469-2011 Medical Surgical Masks). standard).
The inspection data is now published as follows:
It is worth noting that at that time, the test was based on the technical index standard of "medical surgical masks", not the standard of "KN95 masks". The core difference between the two standards is that the former detects bacterial filtration efficiency indicators, and the latter detects particulate filtration efficiency. index.
Some people may wonder what is the difference between these two filtration efficiencies?
Simply put, the two have different requirements for the diameter of aerosol particles that can penetrate. The diameter of the permeable aerosol during the bacterial filtration efficiency test should be 3.0 ± 0.3 microns, and the diameter of the permeable aerosol during the KN95 particulate filtration efficiency test should be 0.075 ± 0.020 microns.
The filtration efficiency requirements of KN95 are more stringent. KN95 refers to the filtration efficiency of aerosol particles with a diameter of 0.075 ± 0.020 microns must be 95.0% and above.
The size of bacteria is 0.5 ~ 5 microns, the size of new coronavirus is 0.08 ~ 0.12 microns, and the size of aerosol containing new coronavirus is in the range of submicron and micrometer. From the perspective of virus isolation, KN95 is more suitable than medical surgical masks.
Referring to the requirements of medical surgical masks in the figure below, only 3 of the 8 companies tested above meet the Class I standard (minimum standard) of medical surgery, and how many of these three companies can meet the KN95 standard is even more difficult to say.
Meltblown cloth can become the "heart" of the mask, not only because of its extremely dense structure, but also because of its powerful electrostatic adsorption function, which can effectively block viruses and bacteria. Therefore, in the production process of melt-blown cloth, electret masterbatch and electret high-voltage electrical treatment are required. This is the true core technology of melt-blown cloth. The particulate matter has a strong adsorption.
Can meltblown fabrics produced by many small workshop cottage machines have such a standard? Obviously not. But why can these small workshops produce "so-called melt-blown cloth" in the early days? The key lies in the lack of uniform industry standards for meltblown fabrics. Even the spot checks in Yangzhong were based on the technical index standards for "medical surgical masks."
Therefore, the introduction of uniform standards in the meltblown fabric industry in the future will also help combat the chaotic production of meltblown fabrics.
Increasing policy warnings under madness
On March 19th, a batch of typical cases of violations of the prices of epidemic prevention and control products and people's livelihood commodities publicly exposed by the General Administration of Market Supervision showed that the parties involved had been investigated, and the suspected crimes would be transferred to public security organs for criminal responsibility.
However, this time the focus was on the illegal behavior of driving up the price of meltblown cloth, which only caused a temporary stagnation in the price of meltblown cloth, and the upward trend was not suppressed. After all, the first wave of participants has shaped a huge "wealth effect" and will only attract more and more people to come in. The price of the cottage's melt-blown cloth production machinery has started to rise.
On March 20, Yangzhong City commissioned a centralized inspection on issues related to the meltblown fabric enterprises. Starting from April 3, on the basis of preliminary small-scale investigations, the Yangzhong Municipal Market Supervision Administration took the lead in organizing 10 special law enforcement teams to carry out net-type investigations, and went into meltblown fabric manufacturing enterprises in towns and towns throughout the city to conduct meltblown. Standardized rectification work in the cloth industry.
From March 20th to April 3rd, the melt-blown cloth production chain started a second wave of hype. The normal price of a spinneret die was 20,000 to 20,000, soaring to 70,000 to 80,000. However, all this can't stop the crowds who are rushing into the industry like a frenzy. Everyone has the dream of a million or even a millionaire.
However, the Circular No. 53 of 2020 issued by the General Administration of Customs on April 10 pointed out that medical commodities under 11 categories of 19 customs commodity numbers should be inspected for export commodities, and medical masks were included in the inspection catalog for the first time.
The news immediately caused an uproar in the industry, and many export sellers exclaimed that the hot masks should be exported cool.
However, this news seems to be ignored by small workshops that produce "so-called meltblown fabrics." Dadu Shanzhai Machine chose polypropylene 2040 to produce "so-called melt-blown cloth", and the price of fiber material of Shenhua 2040 brand increased from 7000 yuan / ton 2 weeks ago to 25000 yuan / ton, a three-fold increase. Shanghai SECCO fiber material price The increase is even more alarming.
On April 13th, Premier Li Keqiang clearly pointed out that strengthening international cooperation in epidemic prevention and control, strict control of the export quality of medical epidemic prevention materials, and serious investigation and punishment of non-qualified and non-standard production, and raising prices for epidemic prevention products and raw materials.
In the face of increasing policies, some people still choose to test the government's bottom line, so the crazy melt-blown cloth production chaos ushered in a thunder blow.
On April 15th, all the enterprises involved in the production of meltblown fabrics in Yangzhong have been shut down. The inspection bayonet is set up, and all products are not allowed to flow out of Yangzhong. The relevant functional departments of Yangzhong are working closely with the higher authorities to formulate product standards and safety production standards.
From April 4th to April 15th, the third wave of hype was opened, with the focus on the production raw material used in the cottage-polypropylene 2040. According to the input cost of 260,000 yuan, the waiting time for a machine to leave the factory is at least 3 days, and the time for commissioning and accessories is 2 days. The actual time of 11 days is only less than 6 days, and this is exactly the time to return the capital. This means that few people who put on production equipment during the third wave of hype can save capital.
A carnival came to an abrupt end. Several families rejoiced and others were distressed. Later, the high-ranking receivers were all bewitched by the earliest riches, most of them ordinary citizens. They take the family as a unit and are small family workshops.
Just in front of the temptation of the huge wealth effect, how many people will stick to their heart?
Write at the end
At present, national car companies and home appliance companies are all involved in manufacturing masks, but it is still difficult for us to purchase masks through regular channels. This obviously does not match our country's production capacity. The reason for this is self-evident.
After the “crazy” of meltblown cloth, it will eventually fall into place. The strong rectification of the government can effectively stop chaos and help the regularization of the entire industry. Manufacturers that produce qualified meltblown fabrics will undoubtedly be the biggest beneficiaries in the end. After all, the epidemic situation abroad has not eased, and huge demand lies there.
However, even if the government is currently strengthening supervision, everyone has a question: Where did the "so-called meltblown fabric" produced by the cottages flow during this period? There is no doubt that it is flowing to many companies that produce masks. According to a recent report issued by the Ministry of Public Security, 70% of protective materials such as counterfeit masks are sold through WeChat Moments and WeChat.
Knock the blackboard again here! How can we tell if there is a real meltblown cloth in the mask? You can tear the middle layer into strips. If you can clearly feel the electrostatic adsorption effect, and you can also adsorb it on stainless steel, it is really melt-blown.
And a good melt-blown fabric is white, not transparent, because of its sufficient weight, and it has a clear difference from the spunbond nonwoven fabric on both sides. To be frank, it looks like paper. If it looks different but is obviously thin, it is a melt-blown cloth with a small weight. The thinner the meltblown cloth, the worse the effect.
Children are a susceptible group of new coronavirus, and no family wants to use fake masks. If melt-blown fabrics lack uniform industry standards, should we also strictly check the quality of masks that belong to medical devices?
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