One year after the Coronavirus was declared a global pandemic, face masks have become ubiquitous in daily lives as they continue to be mandated in more public places. And, not only is everyone wearing masks, it seems like everyone is making them too. The result of this surge in usage and demand for masks, which had previously largely been made in Asia, has led to an unprecedented rate of investment in not just face masks but in their main raw material component—meltblown nonwovens. Companies ranging from veterans in medical products and filtration media to newcomers looking to help fight the spread of the Coronavirus, and make some money in the process—have spent the last year ramping up face masks lines and nonwovens production facilities to fuel demand for masks and respirators used both on the front lines and in consumers’ daily lives. As the Coronavirus pandemic begins its second year, investment in new mask lines continues. U.S. president Joseph Biden has recently mandated mask use in all federal buildings and on most forms of public transportation, and communicable disease expert Anthony Fauci is telling Americans that wearing two masks is better than one. With herd immunity still many months away, experts are forecasting the virus surge to last well into the third quarter of 2021 with mask usage to continue, to some extent, well afterwards.

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• Mask

• Market

• Nonwovens

• 2/1/2021

• Article