I didn't expect the first wave of price increases in 2021 to be skincare products

It is reported that Chanel skincare products increased in price on February 19th. In addition, high-end beauty brands such as Est é e Lauder, Guerlain, Zumarong, and Sea Blue Mystery are also about to increase their prices, while Dior skincare products completed the price increase at the end of last year

What is the truth behind the price increase of skincare products this time? Will consumers pay for this

Urgent raw materials and tight inventory

Move the time a bit further

Since the spread of the epidemic last year, many companies have embarked on the path of switching to producing epidemic prevention products, such as Armani protective clothing, Lamborghini masks, Ferrari ventilators, LV hand sanitizers At the same time, the raw materials of skincare products such as carbomer and polypropylene also saw a surge at this time

Carbomer, as a high molecular polymer of acrylic acid, is widely used in daily chemical products, including lotion, creams, shampoos, hand sanitizers, etc. Its biggest feature is that it can absorb 400 to 500 times of its own weight of water. With the swelling of the polymer, the viscosity of the system increases, which can turn the liquid into gel, thus achieving thickening, suspension and stability. Due to its simple process and good stability, it is difficult to find substitutes for Cabom

During the epidemic, the development of the demand side of Capom was accelerated. Data shows that compared to 2019, its price has increased by over 100%. Capom is mainly divided into types such as Capom 940, Capom 980, Capom 676, Capom U20, Capom U21, etc. Among them, the use of Kapom 940 accounts for the largest proportion

A foreign trade practitioner told reporters that in early February 2020, he purchased the Cabom 940 for only 105-140 yuan/kg, which rose to 380 yuan/kg in less than a month. This is also the first time he has seen Capom soar, even without time to react

In this price increase battle, the busiest one is undoubtedly the manufacturers. As the second largest production capacity in the world and the first in China, Tinci Materials has become a hot cake in an instant

According to data, the company currently has a production capacity of approximately 5000 tons per year. In January of last year, the sales volume was 39 tons, which increased significantly to 356 tons in February and further increased to 411 tons in March. The capacity utilization rate reached 95%, while the average capacity utilization rate for the three years from 2017 to 2019 was only 45%

Last year, the person in charge of Tinci Materials said in an interview that about 1800 tons of Kapom products were in hand, and the company was delivering in an orderly manner according to the production order. It is expected that the global supply of powder carbomer products may remain tight for a period of time, and there may even be sustained shortages

In addition to Capom, the "mask heart" polypropylene is also influencing the price of skincare products

Due to the resurgence of the epidemic, the demand for masks has not decreased. The polypropylene required for melt blown fabric is precisely the main material used for cosmetic plastic packaging

Liang Qiquan, General Manager of Guangzhou Shanggong Plastic Co., Ltd., stated that, "Polypropylene has good environmental protection performance, and can be used in conventional daily chemical packaging. It is an environmental protection material, which can directly contact with cosmetics and food. According to different molecular structures, it can reach three different degrees of hardness. In addition to some high-end cream products, almost most skin care products and cleaning products will use polypropylene for packaging. At the same time, it is also the main raw material for plastic pump heads and vacuum bottles."

Taking S2040 as an example, the price of polypropylene fiber material was 7950 yuan/ton at the beginning of 2020. The price began to rise in early April, and as of April 13th, PetroChina introduced a price limit, which had already reached 11500 yuan/ton. The increase of over 50% only took two weeks

In addition, non-woven fabrics, the basic fabric of facial mask, also participated in the battle. Many non-woven fabric factories have shifted their production focus to masks, greatly squeezing the production line of facial mask film, leading to the price rise and supply failure of film, and many processing factories' raw material reserves have turned red

Finally, when it comes to the outer packaging boxes of skincare products, nearly 20 domestic paper companies have also issued price increase notices recently, including domestic industry leaders such as Chenming Group, Shandong Sun Paper, and APP Paper

The head of a printing factory told reporters that white cardboard is the most commonly used material for making skincare product sets. The price of paper used to be around 6000 yuan/ton, but now it has risen to 7000 yuan/ton. At present, its printing factory has not raised the price of packaging boxes, but he stated that if the prices on the upstream end continue to increase, they will also increase in the future. If the cost of paper increases by 20% to 30%, it will increase the price for customers by about 5% to 10%

In addition, as the end of the year approaches, major brands are launching New Year's series, and the production of their packaging boxes is already more complex than usual. The cost of paper this year is too high, and printing factories have had to raise prices

At present, the skincare market is already not optimistic, with rising raw materials and shortages, coupled with rising packaging costs, which invisibly increases the pressure on enterprises and also poses a test for consumers

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