Chemical Makers Crank Up Supplies to Meet Demand

A number of chemical companies are ramping up production to address the surging demand for health, hygiene and safety products. Some of them are even adjusting their production to make finished products including hand sanitizers.

Dow Inc. DOW recently said that it is expanding production of hand sanitizers at additional sites in North America, Europe and Latin America. These sites join the company’s site in Stade, Germany, which is already producing hand sanitizers. The company expects these sites to produce more than 200 metric tons (equivalent to more than 880,000 eight-ounce bottles) of hand sanitizers. Dow, which does not typically make hand sanitizers, has taken this initiative to address the shortage of these essential products.

DuPont de Nemours, Inc. DD is also stepping up efforts to help protect the frontline fighters. The company’s manufacturing facilities are working round the clock to boost capacity of protective garments amid soaring demand. DuPont’s Spruance manufacturing plant is boosting the production of Tyvek, a material (made from high-density polyethylene) which is used to make protective garments that shield frontline medical personnel from contracting the virus. Notably, the company is ramping up the production of Tyvek hazmat suits, a product critical to protecting U.S. doctors and nurses.

Meanwhile, Eastman Chemical Company EMN is expediting the production of a material required to produce protective face shields for medical personnel battling the outbreak. The company is supplying PETG film, a copolyester, to support the production of face shields. It is also providing resins to customers that are making hand sanitizers.

Huntsman Corporation HUN has also scaled up the production of chemical products needed for making surgical face masks and protective suits. The company is also making hand sanitizers for hospitals and pharmacies in Switzerland that are facing increasing shortages and constrained supply due to the pandemic. It has also provided methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) and other essential materials to help China combat the outbreak.

Moreover, Arkema S.A. ARKAY has repurposed a production line to manufacture alcohol-based solution for distribution to hospitals in France. The solutions are being supplied to the French health authorities and will be earmarked for the mass restocking of public hospitals.

Chemical giant, BASF SE BASFY is also taking steps to make hand sanitizers at its Ludwigshafen, Germany, site in an effort to ease the supply constraints. The company has reallocated several metric tons of raw materials, especially isopropanol, for the production of hand sanitizers. It has been producing certain raw materials at the Ludwigshafen site that are required to make disinfectant products.