Coronavirus: Medical gear makers struggling with supply, says Ansell

Europe’s ‘wild west’ hijacking of each other’s vital PPE is only worsening a situation already hamstrung by faltering supply chains, Ansell says.

Ansell is a major manufacturer of protective clothing for medical professionals. Picture: Supplied.

Factory shutdowns in Asia and a “wild west” mentality in the European Union that has seen countries hijack medical equipment could threaten the supply of crucial protective items like medical gloves, goggles and gowns, global manufacturer Ansell says.

Lockdowns at factories in Malaysia and Thailand, which produce the bulk of the world’s surgical gloves, was denting the ability of its suppliers and sub-suppliers to keep pumping out key components for medical personal protective equipment (PPE), Ansell chief executive Magnus Nicolin told The Australian from his office in Belgium.

Meanwhile, disruptive and unseemly fights over access to shipments of gloves and other protective equipment had broken out in Europe, he said.

In one recent example, a shipment of gloves from Belgium to Italy was halted at the border and rerouted to an Italian hospital different to the one that had ordered the products. In another example, a shipment of masks from China to Italy was stopped and seized at the Czech border for use elsewhere, Mr Nicolin said.

Meanwhile, in Malaysia and Thailand - where Ansell has a total of five plants - the government had shut down factories and other parts of the supply chain to stem the spread of COVID-19. But this had caused bottlenecks in the supply chain that could threaten its supply of gloves and other materials, Mr Nicolin said.

Ansell CEO Magnus Nicolin.

“We have been able to secure the right to run our plants normally after both countries were shut down briefly,’’ he said. “But the start-up was given to the glove industry in Malaysia and to our plant in Sri Lanka, but not necessarily to sub-suppliers and component suppliers or for example packaging material in Malaysia.”

“Without packaging material it is going to be hard to get the product to market.

“These governments need to broaden the start-up rights so that more companies are allowed to get going again,” he said.

“This of course is a balancing act that every government needs to do. They want to shut down to control the spread of the virus, but at the same time, if you shut down too hard then not only are you hurting your own industry but you are hurting the whole world.”

Malaysia accounts for 65 per cent of the world’s supply of single-use or examination gloves.

‘Malaysia has a broader responsibility than just managing their own safety’

“Malaysia has a broader responsibility than just managing their own safety.’’

Ansell, an Australian company that has sales in more than 100 countries, produces between 400 million and 500 million surgical gloves a year and up to 10 billion single-use medical gloves, as well as a range of goggles, gowns and other gear used by healthcare professionals in hospitals and labs.

“In this challenging global crisis, Ansell has expanded production capacity of protective products critical to healthcare workers and other essential industries, and with the necessary support of local authorities we are striving to operate these facilities at their maximum potential,’’ Mr Nicolin said.

“However, we have serious concerns that suppliers of raw materials and components are impacted, threatening continued output of our protective products crucial to managing the pandemic and keeping workers safe. We are also concerned that certain countries (even within the EU) have imposed controls on exports or shipments across borders.”

He said there were constraints now impacting distribution, especially in the Europe.

“Even in Europe, in the European common market we are seeing individual countries lock borders. We have seen Germany do some of that, Czech Republic lay claim to a shipment of masks from China to Italy and they essentially took it into their own hospital system.

“So there is a little bit of the wild west going on at the borders and that of course is not helping getting product where it is needed most.”