Hundreds of Billions Worth of Inventory Piled Up... After Public Supply Ends, Leftover Masks Cause 'Headache'

Masks are displayed at a convenience store in Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] The stock of publicly supplied masks still remains at around 45 million units, causing headaches for the suppliers.

On the 11th, the Korea Pharmaceutical Association announced that companies supplying public masks, such as the GeoYoung consortium and Baekje Pharmaceuticals, have requested assistance due to worsening management difficulties caused by inventory piled up in logistics warehouses.

According to the Pharmaceutical Association, the stock of public masks held by the two companies amounts to 42.6 million units: GeoYoung holds 33 million units (worth approximately 31 billion KRW), and Baekje holds 9.6 million units (worth approximately 9 billion KRW).

They were designated as public mask distributors at the end of February following the government's 'Emergency Mask Supply Adjustment Measures.' Since then, they have supplied public masks to pharmacies nationwide until the distribution ended on July 11.

However, with the end of public mask distribution and the increase in mask supply, low-priced health masks began circulating, leading the two companies to store unsold mask inventory in warehouses and express difficulties such as accumulating storage costs.

The Pharmaceutical Association plans to encourage the purchase of inventory through the Ministry of Education, Ministry of National Defense, and local governments, in coordination with the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters and related government departments.

Additionally, they intend to propose prompt solutions such as expanding government stockpiles in preparation for a COVID-19 resurgence, increasing overseas humanitarian aid, and expanding export volumes.

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