Masks, 200 Million Produced Weekly... Record High Ever

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Records Highest Daily Production of Health, Splash-Proof, and Surgical Masks

Weekly Mask Production Trends

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Last week, the number of masks produced domestically exceeded 200 million. Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), production has steadily increased, and this is the first time weekly mask production has surpassed 200 million units.

According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on the 25th, the total mask production for the third week of August (August 17?23) was 200.512 million units, with health masks accounting for more than half at 103.4 million units. Droplet-blocking masks were 83.45 million units, making up 40.7%, and surgical masks were about 17.33 million units, or 8.4%.

Both droplet-blocking and surgical masks recorded their highest daily production since tracking began. On the 20th, 20.51 million health masks were produced in a single day, marking the second time daily production exceeded 20 million since the end of June.

When measured on a weekly basis, health masks, droplet-blocking masks, and surgical masks all reached their highest levels since related data collection started in February this year. Compared to the maximum purchase volume during the public mask supply period in mid-June, which was 43.15 million units, production has increased more than fourfold. Until the fourth week of February, domestic mask production was about 69.9 million units per week, then steadily increased to exceed 100 million units weekly by late May.

On the 24th, when Seoul City implemented the mandatory mask-wearing policy, citizens were seen walking on the streets of Guro-gu, Seoul, wearing masks. According to the principle of "mandatory mask-wearing," masks must be worn indoors as well as outdoors where many people gather, except in unavoidable cases such as when eating food. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Since mid-July, even after the public mask system ended, production has continued to rise. This appears to be due to increased demand as the nationwide COVID-19 resurgence has become full-scale recently. Although imports have decreased compared to the first week of July, when they were highest at 18.66 million units, they have maintained over 10 million units per week. The number of mask manufacturers has tripled from 137 at the end of January to 396 currently, and the number of mask product items has more than doubled from 1,012 to 2,179 during the same period.

Prices have also stabilized. The online selling price of KF94 health masks is in the 1,300 won range, and droplet-blocking masks are around 600 won, slightly down from the previous week. Yang Jin-young, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, said, "A weekly production of 200 million units is considered sufficient for our people to use without shortage," adding, "While monitoring changes in the situation, even if there are any factors causing mask supply instability, we will actively intervene publicly to ensure that mask use as a daily vaccine does not cause inconvenience."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.