With the raw material supply chains strained, Indian manufacturers of non-woven polypropylene fabric are in line to benefit from coronavirus windfall

In Gujarat in western India, fabric producer Sidwin Fabric is preparing to ship several tonnes of spunbond non-woven fabric to China next week, capitalising on the mainland’s huge facial mask-making boom during the coronavirus pandemic.
China’s desperation for the raw materials used to make the masks is resulting in a bonanza for Indian companies, which have been shipping more of their high-grade products to China, eclipsing the amount sold locally.
China, the world’s biggest mask maker, went from producing 20 million masks a day to 116 million since late-February when Beijing started directing its powerful state-owned enterprises to lead the increase in production.
Encouraged by Beijing’s incentives to make more masks, including lower taxes and subsidies, many private Chinese operators have added mask production lines to their factories, or expanded existing operations.
But China’s ability to direct resources to where they are needed in the economy meant a bottleneck formed in the supply of key products such as non-woven fabric.
Factory owners in China said raw materials for masks were difficult to source, even after transport impediments had eased following the initial lockdown across Chinese.
A thousand kilometres away in Haryana, near New Delhi, Aditya Nonwoven Fabric is also preparing to ship out three to four orders to Hong Kong and China. A company representative did not say how much was being sent, but an average daily order for the firm is around 20 tonnes.
The company has fielded many calls from China during the coronavirus outbreak, having previously fulfilled mainly local orders, while also selling to neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh. “Now our target first is to export,” the representative said.