How to avoid a price explosion in fragile gloves
In today’s world, disposable gloves have become both scarce and expensive, making alternatives more essential than ever.
We live in immeasurable times, so you may need new solutions to keep employees safe without disturbing your company’s bottom line. The price explosion in disposable gloves is a recent problem that may require some creative thinking.
Why did disposable glove prices explode?
The market recently invented storm-disposable gloves known as the perfect storm of things. Rubber boots are a source of materials used in disposable gloves, such as latex and nitrile. These trees only grow in hot, tropical climates, so single-use latex and nitrile gloves are exported almost exclusively from both countries with the majority of rubber trade – Malaysia and China.
The sudden, large increase in sensitive call demand due to COVID-19 combined with high virus cases in China and Malaysia caused an early pandemic of closure, followed by a slow return to production. With many countries still struggling with the virus, these products are no smaller than they have ever been, causing prices to burn by up to 300 percent. In some cases, prices have gone up by 1,200 percent. If buyers do not raise their bids and pay the higher prices, products for disposable PPE will go to higher bidders. There have even been reports of money buyers jumping ahead of the line to buy large quantities of stock so they can resell them at high prices.
While the answer in the normal times is just to jump to another supplier who can offer a better price, in this case, all disposable glove suppliers are in the same situation. Prices continue to fluctuate when buyers are forced to pay market prices when their products are shipped rather than ordered. Therefore, if the price is higher on the delivery than it was when they originally placed the order, the buyers have to accept the additional cost. Unfortunately, this situation is expected to continue through 2021.
Disposable gloves that won’t break your budget
This article first appeared in the January / February 2021 issue of Occupational Health and Safety.