(08/2021) When protective masks were in short supply and purchase prices exploded, it was launched: the "Federal funding of production facilities for personal protective equipment and medical devices serving patient protection as well as their preliminary products". Their goal was to become independent from Asia in the long term. The federal government provided 40 million euros for this, almost all of which was used up. But where do the German mask manufacturers stand today? MTD talked to Alexander Bachmann, spokesman for the German Mask Association and marketing manager at a textile company that also produces surgical masks.
Mr. Bachmann, the German Mask Association was founded in March 2021. Where are you currently?
We have 55 members (as of July 2, 2021), which corresponds to around 40 percent of the mask manufacturers. But we are growing strongly, new companies are added every week. Our companies produce around 23.5 million FFP2 masks and 49.5 million surgical masks per week. A total of around 2,200 employees in the member companies work in mask production.
According to the Federal Ministry of Health, the share of domestic production increased from 4.1 percent in August 2020 to 56 percent in June 2021. Is business booming?
No, it actually doesn't. These numbers are misleading. In principle, this is only the part of the large federal tender, in which care was taken to take German companies into account. But for tenders from the federal states, municipalities and authorities, which are only based on the price, German production actually only covers 15 percent.
And where is the sales market for German masks then?
There is simply no such thing. The framework conditions were set incorrectly and for many companies that took part in the funding program, the whole thing even turned out to be a trap. The problem is that German masks are actually not competitive. No sensible company would have entered the market. But then the state lured them with funding, people invested and founded companies. A complete industry was created out of the ground, so to speak. However, the public sector then only bought imported goods.
What are the consequences?
The result is that the German facilities are not exhausted. This is currently an extremely tense situation for companies. You have invested several hundred million euros in total. A nonwoven plant alone costs 12.5 million euros. This means that they are now not only sitting on a mountain of investment debt, but also have to pay back some of the federal funding. You could almost say the promotion was insidious.
Can you elaborate on that?
On the one hand, the federal government has secured itself extremely well by creating a completely new industry with subsidies and orders. But then no appropriate measures were taken to create a purchase market. You remember something like that. There are already entrepreneurs who would never get into production with their current level of knowledge.
So who buys the masks “Made in Germany”?
Due to the federal tender there is a guaranteed purchase guarantee by the state, but only for a handful of companies that take part, and only until the end of the year. But what happens after that? What does this uncertainty mean for companies and what does it mean for employees? There are also companies that have to assert themselves in the free market without funding. This has consequences: a third of the jobs have already been cut in the last few months.
Can't the masks just be exported?
No, the federal government has put a stop to this. According to the guidelines, the subsidized systems must be demonstrably exclusive by at least December 31, 2025
