ICIS WEBINAR: Demand for plastics for PPE, wipes to stay elevated post coronavirus – Berry exec

NEW YORK (ICIS)–Demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) and sanitizing wipes will likely remain elevated, even after the coronavirus lockdowns wind down, an executive from US-based finished plastics producer Berry Global said on Wednesday.

“From a demand point of view, we’ve seen a spike in drapes and gowns of almost 22%, hard surface protection wipes of almost 65%, face masks of 700% and [spikes in demand for] other filtration media that have essentially exceeded the capacity of the industry to respond”, said Mark Siebert, executive vice president, health and specialties, US and Canada, for Berry Global, on an ICIS webinar.

These figures refer to the annualised run rates Berry has experienced in the past 6-8 weeks. Looking at just March, demand for hard surface disinfectant wipes was up 225%, he said.

Berry’s specialty nonwovens are made from polypropylene (PP) and polyester, among other materials. For Berry overall, PP and polyethylene (PE) account for around 90% of the plastics resins it buys.

Berry has redirected capabilities to meet the surge in demand. In late January, Berry, at its Nanhai, China, facility started to prioritise the production of nonwovens used in face masks, N95 respirators, and protective apparel.

The company in March fully commercialised its 17,000 tonne/year proprietary Spinlace line – targeted toward producing hard surface disinfectant wipes – in Mooresville, North Carolina, US.

“In addition, we have exclusive high-grade melt blown media capability in both France and China, and have now been investing pretty rapidly in the last six weeks to convert two pilot facilities – in Williamsburg, Virginia, and Old Hickory, Tennessee – to… supply the production of almost eight million face masks”, said Siebert.

Berry is also investing in direct, worldwide face mask production in order to supply its employees and communities, he noted.

While Berry is responding today to the huge demand for PPE and cleaning products in reaction to the coronavirus outbreak, it sees global demand for these products continuing at high levels in the long term.

“The change in consumer behaviours is going to lead to elevated demand across most of those categories”, said Siebert. “For face masks, particularly in the US, I think there’s going to be a cultural shift in the willingness and acceptance to don face masks, particularly for… the elderly, or those that have respiratory issues.”

“As a consequence”, he added, “we anticipate that demand is going to be at an elevated level, even once we’ve gotten back to reopening economies and some sense of normalcy, because the new normal will lead to increased demand for our products.”

Plastics products for medical applications account for around 15% of Berry Global’s total sales. This includes medical packaging, gowns and drapes, and backtable covers. Including infection prevention wipes, the figure is around 20%, Siebert said.

In its fiscal year ended September 2019, Berry Global posted $8.9bn in sales.

While the company is seeing a surge in demand in healthcare and hygiene, other sectors are experiencing major declines.

“We’ve seen depression in some markets, like building and construction, and bedding and furniture’, said Siebert. “We supply materials for housewrap, as an example, and roofing underlayment, as well as products that go into coil spring covers and dust covers. And [the demand in those sectors] has dropped anywhere between 30 and 50%.”

“But as a consequence of that falloff”, he added, “it’s liberated capacity to help support the surge in these other segments. At a macro level, we’ve still seen pretty high demand, and as a consequence, [we] anticipate that will translate through to the rest of the value chain on the materials side.”

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Focus article by Joseph Chang

Thumbnail photo by Shutterstock: protective medical disposable masks