PHILIPPE DESMAZES / AFP
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CORONAVIRUS – From lack to surplus. Faced with the now “controlled” epidemic of Covid-19, France should no longer be faced with a shortage of masks. Anyway, in the short term. For more than a week, several tricolor producers have been sharing, in turn, their difficulties in selling their production.
A situation observed in many groups, such as Boldoduc, Chamatex or even Porcher Industries, all producers of fabric masks for non-sanitary use. So how did we get to this situation? Have we promptly urged companies to (over) produce without making sure that they could sell all of their production?
Even if they had not “made any commitment”, the authorities had encouraged at the end of March these companies to mobilize in the face of the health crisis and to do everything they could to cope with the lack of stocks and the needs of employees working during the confinement and over time, as advice or obligation in transport, of all French people.
Tens of millions of masks in stock
Contacted by The HuffPost, Pierric Chalvin, the general delegate of Unitex Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, a professional union which brings together companies in the sector, does not dispute this situation of “overproduction”. But it rather puts forward a problem of “on-order” of the State and the territorial collectivities, more than an excessive and badly anticipated manufacturing of the industrialists.
According to him, a good number of “made in France” companies have been confronted “for 10 to 12 days” with a “sudden drop in orders” or outright cancellations by the State, certain town halls, departmental councils, regions or even companies. Now well equipped, the latter have built up sufficient reserves or sometimes prefer to set their sights on a foreign offer, mainly from Asia, which is less expensive at first glance.
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A national order for 10 million washable masks, placed in early April with a Vietnamese producer, is also singled out. Pierric Chalvin concedes, however, as the government claims, that “our producers were not yet ready to meet this need, due to too long waiting times”.
On May 28, the chairman of the Fashion and Luxury Goods Strategy Committee, Guillaume de Seynes, specifically asked the state to target public orders to French groups. In a letter revealed by The echoes, the committee representing hundreds of SMEs in the sector but also large groups (such as LVMH, which has also started production of masks in the face of the crisis) also called for the purchase of unsold items.
Bercy, for its part, HuffPost that no more orders for washable masks have been placed by the State abroad. A mission with two ambassadors of the sector will be launched next week to find outlets with the producers concerned, we confirm in the team of Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Secretary of State to the Minister for the Economy in charge of the matter. “Our objective will be to help companies which have chosen to mobilize to produce masks but have not managed to conclude contracts up to their expectations to find outlets”, writes the Secretary of State in her response to Guillaume de Seynes (letter which you can read in full at the end of the article).
And the VRP mission promises to be large-scale: “Today, we have tens of millions of cloth masks in stock in factories in the region and nearly 450,000 unsold items already distributed,” explains Pierric Chalvin.
“Companies have responded to the call and to the industrial challenge. They had to adapt, reorient their production, train their staff or sometimes recruit and invest in expensive production equipment. Stock management is also expensive … The least we can do is honor our French producers. It is time that our elected officials take the measure of their responsibility ”, he adds, while saying to ignore the total figure of imports validated by the public authorities.
“Consumer responsibility”
The union official also raises direct “responsibility” for consumers, who “do not care enough about the source of the masks they buy”. “Before buying a product, you buy a price. It is a reflex that must be changed, if we really want to support our economy and our industry, “he defends. “You don’t have to stop at the facial price and look at the quality or the price by number of washes.”
“Our category 1 and 2 fabric masks are subject to controls and a double battery of rigorous and mandatory tests. Which is not always the case in other countries. We don’t sell the same products, ”he also argues as a blue-white-red selling point.
The challenge is there for Bercy. “We alerted, as early as mid-May, to the risk of a” market downturn “after the deconfinement and the evolution of the health situation. Today, we have to match supply to demand ”, we are told HuffPost. “Nearly 400 companies, of varying sizes, have validated prototypes since the start of the crisis. There is very strong competition. And we still hope that some groups will return to their original activities with the resumption of economic activity. ”
“Buyers, businesses and consumers alike, must also switch to the purchase and exclusive use of cloth masks,” it continues. “They must see it as a financial interest, but also an ecological one, all while supporting the” made in France “. Out of 20 or 30 washes, these masks will cost 15 cents for use, compared to 50 to 60 cents for FFP2 surgical masks sold in supermarkets “and all coming from abroad, those produced in France being reserved for nursing staff.
Pending a change in consumption habits, the manufacturers concerned reduce or stop their production. But “you can’t stop an industrial device overnight,” warns Pierric Chalvin. “Raw material has been purchased. It will also have to be sold. ”
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See also on The HuffPost: The mask causes irritation, here’s what to do to preserve your skin
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