Here we are, already in the second quarter of 2021. Time sure does fly. How’s your year going?
The disposable glove market is chugging along, doing its best to overcome challenges. Whether it’s capacity limitations or supply chain issues or elevated pricing, distributors have a lot to deal with in procuring gloves for their customers.
If you are in the disposable glove business, you have been living the reality of higher prices for nearly a year. We’ve outlined the reasons for this more than a few times in this space.
Over the last year, there has been a lot of speculation about market dynamics. Frustratingly, 2021 is shaping up to be another year of short supply, high demand, and uncomfortable prices. Supply chains will be seriously put to the test. And customers are not happy about it.
A lot of factors impact disposable glove prices, from raw materials to labor to supply and demand to shipping and transportation. Over the last year, they have all contributed to glove prices rising while availability suffers.
At the moment, nothing is putting more pressure on the market than major disruptions to the global supply chain. And the crisis reaches far beyond disposable gloves.
Has it really been almost a year since the U.S. and a good portion of the planet went into quarantine?
Hard to believe. Here at AMMEX, we shut down the home office on March 17, 2020. Most of us have worked from home since.
Today’s disposable glove market may be filled with challenges related to nitrile, but when it comes to vinyl, the possibilities for success are numerous.
In these times of a global pandemic that has already claimed more than a million lives worldwide and shows no signs of slowing, one might think that disposable gloves are so much in demand that they sell themselves.
Well, yes. And no.
Nitrile butadiene rubber is in short supply the world over, making nitrile gloves both expensive and difficult to obtain.
Nearly a year since the first cases of COVID-19 appeared in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the world is still reeling from the pandemic’s effects.
Global cases are in the tens of millions, with deaths over a million. In the U.S., the virus is proliferating. Economies continue to sputter. Still, we may not have yet seen the worst of COVID’s impact on society and the disposable glove marketplace in particular.
| In these times of personal protective equipment shortages, with prices rising and orders backed up for months, it can be helpful to examine the worldwide disposable glove supply chain that carries products from Southeast Asia factories to end-users. There are myriad factors that, either collectively or individually, can cause a breakdown in supply.
It all starts with raw materials. If you are making latex gloves, you need natural rubber. For nitrile, the basic ingredients are two monomers, acrylonitrile and butadiene. For PVC, it’s polyvinyl chloride monomers. Continue reading “Disposable Glove Supply Chain Only as Strong as Its Weakest Link” |
Thanks to COVID-19, prices for personal protective equipment, especially disposable gloves, have been on the rise as supply suffers acute shortages. In many cases, price jumps have been astronomical, and in the next 45 to 90 days, prices for all gloves will likely double. PVC prices may go even higher, delivering a serious blow to the affordability of vinyl gloves.
In simplest terms, it is a matter of overwhelming demand and a supply chain that cannot keep up. Disposable gloves have for years been viewed as a basic commodity that is widely available, but for many reasons, there has always been a limited manufacturing capacity. Glove makers and the supply chain were not prepared to deal with the sudden spike in demand.
Continue reading “Take the Long View Toward Rising Disposable Glove Prices”
Gloveworks HD featuring raised diamond texture is a pretty special brand for AMMEX. These heavy-duty, nitrile disposable gloves are industrial grade, top of the line, designed and manufactured for professionals who need the best, all while providing high-margin residual sales.
The trick with Gloveworks HD—the raised diamond texture channels away liquids for a superior grip, wet or dry—is to find the right audience willing to spend a little extra for a better glove.
View AMMEX’s wide selection of nitrile, latex, and vinyl gloves
Continue reading “High-margin residual sales spring from Gloveworks HD”
Distributors who sell disposable latex gloves in California should know of that state’s impending ban on latex glove use for restaurants, food service operations, and retail food establishments.
Signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 5 and effective Jan. 1, 2020, the law decrees that latex gloves will no longer be permitted in the food industry. This ban is similar to laws passed in such states as Ohio, Connecticut, Oregon, Hawaii, Arizona, and Rhode Island. Several more states are considering similar measures.
Continue reading “Be prepared for California latex glove ban”
