Strong Demand for Nitrile Gloves in 2021

The year 2021 started out with some unique challenges that have caused a strain on the nitrile glove supply chain. Specifically, the demand for nitrile gloves is high, while at the same time, there is a shortage of this essential personal protective equipment. As you can imagine, this has caused a whole host of issues that directly affect end-users, nitrile glove suppliers, and everyone in between. Let’s discuss a few aspects of this situation.

GLOVE SUPPLY & DEMAND HAS REMAINED UNBALANCED

Signs of a nitrile glove shortage started in the year 2020 when the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic took its toll, creating an extreme unbalance in supply and demand. This unbalance has only worsened since then as the need for quality protective gloves grew as the virus cases surged.

It’s most apparent when you evaluate the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile, where its pre-COVID nitrile glove count was close to 4 billion gloves, but was recently counted at only 72 million gloves, which is concerning. In addition to this, the overall current demand is 585 billions gloves a year according to market analysts. However current production can only make 370 billions gloves a year and new manufacturers for 2021 will only be able to make an additional 50 billion gloves, thus creating a shortfall of 165 billion gloves.

Below you will find a few specifics on the supply and demand issue that is currently taking place:

DEMAND – WHY IS THERE A HIGH NEED FOR NITRILE GLOVES IN 2021?

From the start of the pandemic last year, to the beginnings of 2021, through the current day, there have been many factors that have increased the need for disposable nitrile gloves. This is especially true due to the fact that this specific glove type is preferred over latex when protecting against COVID. Please see our article on Nitrile vs Latex Gloves – A Comprehensive Guide to obtain more information on the specifications of each glove.

Source – https://www.gloves.com/