How COVID-19 Is Affecting Glove Supplies

Nov

2020

How COVID-19 Is Affecting Glove Supplies

General

In a year like this with a global pandemic, there have been some new challenges beyond our control. When Covid-19 first hit at the start of the year our Operations Manager worked ceaselessly to ensure we still had PPE for our customers in a landscape where suddenly everyone wanted masks and hand sanitisers.

Increased Demand For Gloves

That initial spread of Covid-19 saw PPE hitting the headlines everywhere - it’s a story that has largely dropped off now. But whilst hand sanitiser is now reasonably easy to get hold of again - the supply of PPE items isn’t quite back to business as normal. Just recently we received some really interesting figures about disposable gloves – and we wanted to share them with you.

The pandemic has apparently created a 45% increase in demand for disposable gloves around the world. The resulting low product availability and price volatility are projected to last through 2021 and beyond. Another knock-on effect is an increase in some raw materials prices – nitrile prices for example went up by 195% from April through July this year.

According to Leedsafe General Manager – Sales and Operations, Wayne Collingwood, “It’s a classic example of demand completely outstripping supply.” And it’s affecting all glove suppliers around the world.

Glove Manufacturers and Raw Materials

The solution is for manufacturers around the world to double the supply of disposable gloves to 600 billion pieces a year. This would both ensure immediate requirements were met and countries could build up PPE stockpiles. But it requires manufacturers to expand their lines – this takes time and money. It requires raw material suppliers to keep up with demand from manufacturers. None of these are things that can be achieved overnight.

We always strive to make PPE ordering easy for our clients. But sometimes things are beyond our control. We continue to work with our suppliers to ensure that we always have the stock our customers need but if disposable gloves are vital to your daily business – don’t leave the ordering to the last minute.

Disposable Nitrile Glove