The price of melt-blown fabric used for masks has risen to over 200,000 yuan per ton! The raw material is high melt index polypropylene; which coal-based olefin manufacturers are urgently shifting their production?

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The price of melt-blown fabric used for masks has risen to over 200,000 yuan per ton! The raw material is high melt index polypropylene; which coal-based olefin manufacturers are urgently shifting their production? Author/Source: Yahuah Coal Chemical Industry. Date: 2020-03-01. Clicks: 43. Due to the need to control the spread of COVID-19, mask production capacity across the country has been accelerated, but despite this, demand still exceeds supply owing to the large gap that exists. Provinces have also begun to encourage enterprises that are in a position to do so to switch to producing masks. On February 23, The Paper reported that Ms. He, the manager of a clothing factory in Quzhou, Zhejiang, said that melt-blown fabric is the key component of masks, and there is no supply of it at all right now; the price keeps changing daily, with the cost per ton rising from 20,000 yuan to over 200,000 yuan. The reason why masks cannot be produced even with mask-making machines is the lack of the key material for masks: melt-blown fabric. In just one month, many companies shifted to producing masks. Although the price of melt-blown fabric rose significantly, there was a severe shortage of this material across the country; not enough melt-blown fabric was available to supply the market, and that is now the bottleneck in the production process. Melt-blown fabric, commonly known as the “heart” of masks, is the filtering layer located in the middle of a mask; it can filter out bacteria and prevent the spread of pathogens. Melt-blown fabric is a type of membrane made from polypropylene with a high melt index, consisting of numerous fibers that are arranged in a crisscross pattern and layered in random directions. The diameter of these fibers ranges from 0.5 to 10 micrometers, which is roughly one-thirtieth the diameter of a human hair. Although the novel coronavirus is very small, at around 100 nanometers (0.1 micrometers), it cannot exist on its own. Its main modes of transmission are secretions and droplets released during sneezing; these droplets are about 5 micrometers in size. Secondly, melt-blown fabric is essentially a type of fiber filter – droplets containing the virus are attracted to its surface by static electricity and cannot pass through it. The material specifically used for melt-blown fabric is polypropylene with a high melt index. The higher the melt index of polypropylene, the finer the fibers produced by melt spinning, and the better the filtering performance of the resulting melt-blown fabric. As a leading research institution in the coal chemical industry, Yajia Consulting’s studies show that China’s coal-based olefins industry is shifting its production to polypropylene with a high melt index, which is used as raw material for melt-blown fabric used in masks. According to a report on the China National Coal Group’s official website dated February 12, 2020, in light of the shortage of medical supplies such as face masks and protective clothing, Inner Mongolia China National Coal Group Mengda New Energy Chemical Co., Ltd. urgently adjusted its production plans; for the first time, its polypropylene production facility switched from producing filament material to fiber material, with a target output of 10,000 tons. This product is mainly used in the production of non-woven fabrics, and it serves as a basic material for manufacturing protective clothing and medical masks. On February 6, Inner Mongolia Zhongmei Mengda New Energy Chemical Co., Ltd. organized its technical experts to work through the night to develop optimized technical solutions and standard operating procedures, formulating 14 technical countermeasures. Production was switched over at 6:00 a.m. on February 7, and qualified products were produced by 5:00 p.m. on the same day. On February 14, 2020, the polypropylene production unit at Baofeng Energy’s Olefin Plant No. 1 successfully produced material S2040, which is specifically designed for use in polypropylene masks and protective clothing, and it met the standards for top-quality products right from the start! The high-melt-index fiber polypropylene S2040 production line that Baofeng Energy is now converting to for use in the manufacture of medical non-woven fabrics will have a daily production capacity of over 1,000 tons. From each ton of this high-melt-index fiber polypropylene, it is possible to produce 900,000 to 1,000,000 disposable surgical masks, or 200,000 to 250,000 N95 masks. On February 9, Baofeng Energy Group Co., Ltd. officially launched emergency production shifts to support the fight against the pandemic, manufacturing high-melt-index fiber polypropylene S2040 that can be used in the production of medical non-woven fabrics. The daily production of S2040 on this production line will exceed 1,000 tons. In addition, Baofeng Energy has reached a cooperation agreement with Daon Co., Ltd., the largest domestic manufacturer of polypropylene melt-blown materials specifically used for mask fabric. To make a positive contribution to ensuring the supply of Eisai’s raw materials during the pandemic. On February 21, Ningbo Fude Energy Co., Ltd. shipped its first batch of high melt index polypropylene products (H40S) from its factory, which were sent to non-woven fabric factories in Shanghai and Wenzhou. On February 14, Ningbo Fude Energy Co., Ltd. successfully switched to production in one go, manufacturing qualified high-melt-index polypropylene with a daily production capacity of 1,200 tons. According to a report from Shaanxi Coal Group Pujie Energy Chemicals on February 19, 2020, following the use of the polypropylene fiber material HP552R to ensure the supply of raw materials for epidemic prevention supplies, the polypropylene injection-molding modification base material HP500N produced by Pujie Energy Chemicals was recently shipped to Shandong Daon Group for use in manufacturing the non-woven fabric for the melt-blown layers of medical masks, once again demonstrating the responsibility of this state-owned enterprise. Upon learning that there was a shortage of raw materials for masks in the market during the pandemic prevention and control period, Pu Jieneng Chemical Company closely aligned its production activities with market demands and made timely adjustments. Building on the successful delivery of the polypropylene fiber material HP552R to the non-woven fabric production lines this month, the company quickly reconfigured its production facilities to manufacture the polypropylene base material HP500N. It is reported that as of now, Shandong Daon Group has ordered 3,000 tons of HP500N raw material from this company for use in the production of non-woven fabrics for the melt-blown layers of masks, thereby ensuring a continuous supply of protective equipment for those on the front lines of epidemic control as well as for the market. At the same time, to ensure an adequate supply of the raw material for the melt-blown layer, the company has currently scheduled the production of over 10,000 tons of HP500N raw material; future production volumes will be increased as needed to meet market demands and thus satisfy the requirements for processing melt-blown non-woven fabrics. Inner Mongolia Jiu Tai: The company’s project with an annual production capacity of 600,000 tons of olefins has been converted to produce polypropylene fibers, in order to ensure the supply of medical protective equipment. To support the epidemic prevention and control efforts, at 9 a.m. on February 13, Inner Mongolia Jiu Tai’s plant with an annual production capacity of 600,000 tons of olefins began to switch to producing polypropylene fibers, achieving a successful conversion within 12 hours. At present, the facility is operating stably, capable of producing nearly 1,000 tons of fiber products per day.