Panel SA: Easing the mandatory use of a mask lowers the price of the product

The flexibility in the use of masks in some cities is already starting to bring down the demand and price of the product.

In Raia Drogasil chain pharmacies, the number of units sold dropped 40% in the last three months. Prices followed the trend with an average drop of 15%, according to the company, which adjusted the replacement of masks to the new pattern of demand.

The perspective is to continue at this pace in the coming months, says Raia Drogasil.

Panvel saw sales fall 5% in the last quarter compared to the previous period. The result is pulled by fabric masks, whose demand dropped 13% in recent months. The sale of disposables remains heated, with projections of growing 5% to 10% in the next two months.

At the chain’s pharmacies, the price of surgical masks is on average 25% cheaper, while the PFF2 and KN95 models dropped 15%, according to the company, which says it has reduced the number of suppliers by about 80% in the year.

Animaseg, the association that brings together the PFF2 industry, has already observed a reduction of around 20% in the demand for masks compared to the peak of 2020 and foresees accommodation at a level below the current level.

The market for PFF2 masks, used as PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) by workers, tripled in the pandemic. The number of companies that manufacture or import the product jumped from 28 in February 2020 to 86 in October this year.

with Mariana Grazini e Andressa Motter