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Rising Oil Prices Straining the Disposable Glove Supply Chain

Rising Oil Prices Straining the Disposable Glove Supply Chain

Many headlines throughout this year have been overshadowed by the surging oil and gas prices. This has had a huge impact across the United States, with some states reaching new record highs, over $6 a gallon. The economy is impacted significantly by increased fuel costs, as are most industries: disposable gloves and personal protective equipment included.

Disposable gloves are made up of about 60% raw materials. The primary ingredients are nitrile butadiene rubber and polyvinyl chloride–both of which have petroleum as a primary ingredient. This means increased pricing pressure is added at the processing and manufacturing level.

Did you know disposable gloves are primarily manufactured in Southeast Asia? This impacts the consumers' costs directly when gas and petroleum prices increase, not only due to the increased cost of making the product but also due to the transportation it takes to get the product to the United States. Ocean shipping and ground transportation costs are two large factors in the pricing of disposable gloves.

It's not news to us that shipping costs for all goods have significantly increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In conjunction with rising demand, factory shutdowns, port shutdowns, vessel shortages, and much more. It's no surprise the global supply chain is still facing supply shortages.

Shipping Remains Challenging

To put these increased costs into perspective, let's look at a simple breakdown of obtaining a container of disposable gloves. When pricing a transport from China to the West Coast of the United States, the cost is 12 times what it was just two years ago. Not only is the cost of transport increasing, but so has the lead time of obtaining product—it now takes twice as long for the container to reach its destination. This has directly impacted the costs for companies that source products overseas. Shipping rates are currently expected to increase as we embark upon the busiest ocean transit season. What does this mean, you may ask? It means the cost for consumers to obtain products is increasing.

Stock Up at the Right Price

While this unprecedented market is consistently changing, we don't know what the future will bring. However, we can recommend stocking up on disposable gloves now instead of waiting for prices to decline. The market is not returning to pre-pandemic pricing now, nor through the remainder of the year. Demand continues to stay high and the pricing you are currently experiencing is most likely the best we will see throughout the year.

We suggest purchasing ample amounts of inventory for your needs that will allow you to continue providing proper personal protection. Zoomget is committed to providing a selection of products from a dependable brand at an unparalleled value.

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