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Thanks to the covid of the shares of the Malaysian companies Supermax Corporation Berhad and Top Glove, which produce rubber gloves, over the past year have grown by 1119% and by 357%, respectively, while the shares of the American manufacturer Tesla have risen by 784%, the President of the Association of Developers, manufacturers and suppliers Protection (PPE) Vladimir Kotov.

However, in November, Top Glove, which provides almost a quarter of global demand for gloves, suspended the work of 20 factories, reducing the production of products at the rest to 20% of the previous capacities. The company warned of increasing prices and interruptions in supplies.

The consequences of a sharp increase in the incidence of personnel of Malaysian factories can also see Russia. In nine months of 2020, Malaysia put half of the soft rubber gloves (including mittens) in Russia, follows from the data of the Federal Customs Service. In total, according to the results of nine months, Russia purchased a little more than 3 billion pairs of soft tires abroad.

In 2018, Russian enterprises produced 12.9 million pairs of medical gloves, in the first half of 2019 - 6.9 million pairs, the Discovery Research Group marketing agency said.

Almost the same number of gloves was exported from Russia, mainly to Ukraine: in 2018 - 12.3 million pairs, in the first half of 2019 - 5.63 million pairs. Most often, it was a re-export of gloves of the Malaysian Top Glove and the Polish Tzmo SA since March 2020. Russian enterprises have increased the release of medical gloves more than 10 times, up to 121,000 pairs per day, the press service of the Ministry of Industry and Trade said.

Not enough 200 billion pairs of gloves

Over the past two months, the average cost of light gloves (from latex and nitrile) of one -time use in the commercial market has increased on average by 30% and it will continue to grow until the demand is equal to the supply, VTIMES of Kotov said. Experts evaluate the world demand for such gloves of 580 billion pairs per year, while factories can produce only 380 billion pairs year, that is, the deficit is 200 billion pairs per year, he says. Production is contracted for many months in advance, and current reserves are spent, says Kotov. In his opinion, in Russia a shortage of gloves is also possible: there is demand in the country, but there is no its own large -scale production, and it is quickly impossible to increase the production of gloves.

Excessive measure

Latex and nitrile gloves are used in hospitals, at food industries, in public catering, chemical laboratories and simply in the household. The world consumption of light gloves in the well -time time amounted to 350 billion packs per year, and now demand has grown at times, vacation prices at least twice, says Kotov. “Packaging of 50 pairs of gloves [to Covid] was about 350 rubles, and now - 1,500 rubles. And it will be price, ”the chairman of the dental self -regulatory organization“ League ”Sergei Pankiv knows.

In addition to doctors and employees of catering enterprises, Rospotrebnadzor put on gloves of ordinary citizens: the use of these medical devices in public places, including shops, pharmacies and transport, is mandatory. The American US Diseases Control and Prevention Center (CDC) does not use gloves in its recommendations. To prevent Covid, it is enough to observe a social distance, wash hands and wear a mask, according to CDC experts.

Even the chief infectious disease specialist of the Ministry of Health, Vladimir Chulanov, recognized the inefficiency of gloves, and Dermatologist Inna Petrosov recalled that contact dermatitis could develop because of them. The development director of the analytical company RNC Pharma Nikolai Bespalov also called this measure excessive and recalled the damage to the ecology.

In his opinion, the problems of a large manufacturer will inevitably lead to an increase in prices: the demand for personal protective equipment and, in particular, the gloves are very high around the world, and Russian manufacturers depend on the supply of imported raw materials. Bespalov believes that the problem will affect mainly hospitals, since the stores use disposable plastic gloves, and in everyday life - cotton gloves.

The DSM Group General Director Sergei Shulyak, in turn, believes that after 2-3 weeks, Malaysian factories will recover along with sick employees, and the damage will be insignificant on the world's scale. At the same time, Russian medical institutions will not suffer, he thinks.

Glove reserves

The supplies of gloves in Russian medical institutions make up 171.5 million pairs, in non -medical organizations - 93 million pairs, reserves are replenished, the Ministry of Industry and Trade reported with reference to the Center for Monitoring the situation with the Covid. There are no problems with medical gloves in the capital's hospitals and clinics, the press service of the Moscow Department of Health said: the department also has its own constantly replenished reserve. The Russian Ministry of Health did not answer whether hospitals have difficulties with public procurement or new supplies.

Today, there are no problems with gloves in pharmacies: the balance and demand balance is observed, says the DSM Group agency CEO. The vice-president of the Federation of restaurateurs and hoteliers of Russia Sergey Mironov, in turn, said that, unlike masks, there are always problems with the supply of gloves: they are not enough, and the prices are unstable.

Retail sellers have not yet felt changes: the press service of the largest Russian online store Wildberries said they did not note a decrease in the number of shipments. The average price of medical gloves relative to April remains at the same level. A set of 100 pieces of latex or vinyl gloves can be purchased from 900 rubles per package. However, according to the President of the Malaysian pharmaceutical community of Amraha Boang, the main interruptions in supplies should be expected in the first quarter of 2021.

There will be no shortage

The Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia believes that there will be no shortage of gloves: Russian manufacturers are ready to provide doctors with protective equipment, in addition, there are a sufficient number of alternative suppliers, including from Southeast Asia (produces up to 90% of the global volume of gloves). Latex gloves are made by domestic companies: “Armavir Plant of Rubber Products” (capacity-100,000 pairs per day), “Kalinin Trush Product Plant” (14,000 pairs per day) and “Special-I-AL” (24,000 per day).

The production of thin nitrilic gloves in Russia has not yet been established, Kotov says. The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that such projects were preparing to launch: at the beginning of 2021, such production wants to launch the Samara Medical Product Plant, and Sibur Holding will establish a large-scale production of Butadien-Nitrile rubber.

A number of companies also work in Russia that purchase gloves abroad, and then carry out their finish processing and packaging. This is “Russian medical packaging”, “Grundlaga”, “Ardale-imptex” from Moscow, “Diaclo” from the Moscow Region. The total capacity of these enterprises is about 1800 pairs per day, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said.

As for other personal protective equipment, the situation differs: there is no lack of medical masks in Russia, moreover, in the last month there is a crisis of overproduction of hygiene and medical masks, Kotov said. There are also enough pulsoximeters used in hospitals to determine the saturation and digital thermometers, Shulyak said. But the demand for respirators is still not balanced, says Kotov. In addition, products coming from Southeast Asia are in doubt in quality, he drew attention to: often the products do not correspond to the declared protective characteristics.

Gloves will be in a large shortage