The owner of Dawn Polymer in Shenzhen is the main beneficiary of the boom in requests for face protection devices. But now it has more and more competition
by Stefano Carrer
2 ‘of reading
For hundreds of millions of businesses worldwide, the epidemic from coronavirus poses a survival problem. But there is no shortage of those who benefit enormously from an unprecedented situation. One of the main beneficiaries is Yu Xiaoning, owner of the Dawn Polymer listed in Shenzhen, whose market share in the special materials used in the production of protective masks is estimated at 40%.
Stock market boom
The Chinese king of masks – the Financial Times calculated – has seen the value of the controlling share (which he shares with his wife) of over 13.5 billion renmimbi (1.9 billion dollars) in the six weeks following 20 January – when the general alarm went off – to over 16,800 billion renminbi. During the period, the company’s share price soared 417%, before a drop in the wake of the signs of containment of the epidemic in China.
More downward competition
Mister Yu launched Dawn Polymer in 2002, after a long experience in the plastic materials sector dating back to the early 90s. Since 2003 – in the wake of the health crisis caused by Sars – he had perfected the production of polyester fabrics focusing on a limited number of higher quality productions. Already last year his personal wealth had been estimated by Hurun Report at 3.8 billion renminbi.
Now his company is obviously experiencing increased competition in an industry where demand has exploded. In a recent statement, Yu said he was worried not so much about this inevitable dynamic per se, but about the risk of improvised manufacturers lowering the quality of the products on the market.
To know more:
● The business of the masks and the laboratories that make the tests: many not up to standard
● “Cura Italia” decree: here are the official clarifications, also on the masks
● Gioia Tauro, 900 fake diagnosis kits seized
