January 20, 2022
Figure 1 2019-2021 China nitrile gloves export data trend chart
Source: General Administration of Customs
From 2019 to 2021, the export volume of China's nitrile gloves was affected by emergencies, and the total export volume increased widely. As of November 2021, the total export volume of China's nitrile gloves has reached 31.383 billion pairs, an increase of 17.795 billion pairs or 121.98% over the total in 2020. The production capacity has achieved substantial growth in the short term.
Figure 2 China's export volume and average export price of nitrile gloves in 2021
Source: General Administration of Customs
In 2021, the export volume of nitrile gloves in China will increase month by month. In April, a public health incident broke out in the main producing areas of nitrile gloves in Southeast Asia. The total export volume of domestic nitrile gloves reached a peak of 31,900 tons in June. In the second half of the year, with the resumption of work and production of nitrile glove companies in Southeast Asia and the global vaccination, the public health incident has been alleviated to a certain extent. New orders for nitrile gloves have declined. In order to take more orders for nitrile gloves, glove companies began to reduce the price of nitrile gloves, resulting in a sharp decline in the domestic average export price of nitrile gloves since July. As of November, the average export price of nitrile gloves fell to 8178.72 US dollars / ton. At present, the global nitrile glove market is in the stage of digesting social inventory. The new orders of nitrile glove enterprises are insufficiently supported, the start-up is at a low level, and the market competition pressure is relatively high.
Figure 3 Comparison of the top 10 export destinations of Chinese nitrile gloves in 2021
Source: General Administration of Customs
The main export destinations of domestic nitrile gloves are the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and other European and American regions, of which the United States accounts for 44.03%. In December, with the gradual implementation of tariffs on nitrile gloves in the United States, some domestic glove manufacturers were affected, resulting in a decline in the start of industrial-grade nitrile gloves and a significant drop in orders for nitrile gloves exported to the United States.
According to the export data of China's nitrile gloves in the past three years, the consumption of nitrile gloves in the United States accounts for a larger share in the world. Due to the lack of nitrile glove manufacturers in the country, when the public health incident broke out and the demand increased rapidly, it brought greater business opportunities and profits to the main producing countries of nitrile gloves. Therefore, in 2020, the United States realized the lack of personal protective equipment and production enterprises in the country. Therefore, in 2021, the US Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services began to plan to increase the production capacity of local nitrile gloves to meet local demand and reduce imports. Dependence on nitrile gloves.
In the second half of the year, the domestic nitrile glove price has fallen to a rational state. The completion and operation of the US nitrile glove production line and the global nitrile glove order situation will bring new impacts to Chinese nitrile glove enterprises. At that time, the cost, quality and technological innovation of domestic nitrile gloves will become the main market competition factors. Exploring a better market for nitrile gloves is a difficulty that domestic nitrile glove manufacturers urgently need to solve, and the market will evolve in the future.
