Face masks are big business across the health, veterinary, dental and industrial industries, including construction.
According to Market Study Report, one of the world’s leading market research resource providers, global sales of face masks totaled US$4.581 billion last year.
But even before the current COVID-19 outbreak, more and more people worldwide were wearing face masks during the flu season, bushfire crises in Australia and the US, and to guard against the rise in pollution levels in the world’s major cities, especially in Asia.
Global sales of face masks are expected to rise by a CAGR of 24.2 per cent through to 2026 to reach US$21.2 billion, predicts Market Study Report.
3M, the largest face mask manufacturer in the US, has been ramping up production since January.
In Australia, more than 130 companies have answered the government’s call to dramatically increase production of hand sanitisers and face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adelaide-based the Detmold Group, a fast food packaging company which makes bags, coffee cups, wraps and cartons from sustainably and ethically sourced raw materials, for example, has reached agreements with the South Australian and Federal governments to make 145 million face masks over the next seven months.
A globally-facing company, Detmold has factories in Australia, China, Vietnam, South Africa, the Philippines and India.