Daily cases of the corona virus in Indonesia soared amid the spread of the Omicron variant. However, some manufacturers of masks, personal protective equipment (PPE), and medical gowns have stopped production this year. This is because the supply of masks, PPE, and medical gowns is abundant. The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) noted that the production of medical PPE reached 108,226 tons or 432.9 million sets last year. Meanwhile, the total domestic demand is only 3,721 tons or 14.88 million sets. In addition, export demand is only 314.9 tons.

"They have temporarily stopped their production because demand is very limited, stocks are piling up, and the export market is very tight," said the Director of the Textile, Leather and Footwear Industry at the Ministry of Industry, Elis Masitoh, Monday (21/2).

Medical masks piled up in warehouses reached 4.45 billion pieces or 14,254 tons. This happened because the production reached 4.63 billion pieces last year, while domestic demand was only 176.59 million.

Then, the medical robes piled up in the warehouse were 221.35 million sets or 44,270 tons. This is because its production reached 228.85 million, while domestic demand and exports were only 7.49 million and 8.4 million, respectively.

Even so, the trade balance of PPE and medical masks is in the red zone. The main cause is the importation of N95 masks, as well as raw materials for PPE and medical masks, namely spunbond and meltbond fabrics.

"Imports are still high in the raw material for masks and N95 respirator masks, so the balance is still negative and (the market for the two products) is filled with imports," said Elis.

PPE and medical masks generally consist of two types of fabric, namely spunbond on the inside and meltbond on the outside. Both are non-knitted fabrics from polyester and rayon fibers.

Indonesia imported 50,634.5 tons of raw materials to produce 2,250 tons of medical masks last year. However, this volume is not sufficient to meet the export needs of 5,672 tons and domestic demand of 10.87 million tons.

In addition, the total production of local N95 masks only reached 97.2 tons last year. Meanwhile, the need is 346.2 tons or 8.29 million pieces.

Elis said stakeholders were still looking for ways to recycle PPE and medical masks. This is because these two products pollute the environment and hinder the recycling industry in carrying out production.

"The processing (of waste PPE and medical masks) is still in the research stage if it is to be further processed into textile products. (Currently) it is still mostly destroyed through incinerators," said Elis.