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Hand sanitizer has ethanol, as an active ingredient to act as an antiseptic. Increasing awareness regarding hand hygiene is gaining prominence and it is the most important element of personal care hence, driving the popularity of the hand sanitizers. The easy use and applications of the hand sanitizers as well as being portable has made the product available in large scale.
In the wake of outbreak such as the ongoing COVID-19, these products have grown quickly in demand. The product also reduces the risk of any infection and reduces skin dryness.
WHO and FDA have taken initiative in order to make people aware about the hand hygiene and this is led to rise in demand of sanitizers. Ever since the COVID-19 broke out these products have swelled across the international market. As of February 2020, there has been a more than 200% increase in the sales of sanitizers. Many distilleries which used to produce liquor products are now shifting their establishment to mass produce the hand sanitizers.
Gel based sanitizers have generated highest revenue and has about half of the market share. They are thin and penetrate into skin easily and high product availability has made the gel type popular. The foam sanitizer is gaining prominence mainly due to, they stay for longer period and they usually immediately cling onto the hand. They reduce the time as they are not required to be rubbed off.
The graph shows the global market share of the hand sanitizer based on the type:
The pandemic outbreak has caused for the demand for sanitizers like never before. It is estimated that there was a spike of 1400% in sanitizer demand in the month of January 2020 compared to December 2019. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released temporary guidelines for the manufacturers to be followed in order to produce alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
Amid oil prices trending at nearly 20-year low, l below $30/Bbl, ethanol prices have been depressed(~3-5% of crude prices / gallon).Therefore, selling into the hand sanitizer market can offer significantly higher pricing to crude refiners.
Following the trend, the European breweries have started to produce sanitizers at their plants to cope up with the demand. Apart from breweries, even perfume makers are also lending their hand in production of sanitizers. LVMH, luxury goods conglomerate have promised to provide the French health officials the sanitizers free of charge. They have been manufacturing the sanitizer at their various perfume plants such as Dior, Givenchy and others.
In the light of COVID-19 outbreak, retail malpractices have been hurting the end-consumer. Ex- In the U.K., a Defendol hand gel retailing at $4.46 in stores is being sold for $130 on Amazon.
China used to supply hand sanitizer across the globe, not only the sanitizer but also used to export the containers alone to store them. The COVID-19 outbreak has hit the market badly
Various companies which used to manufacture different products are retooling to produce hand sanitizers. Chinese electric car maker BYD is producing 300,000 bottles of hand sanitizers per day.
Pernod Ricard, French alcoholic beverage manufacturer has already started the production of the sanitizers as per WHO regulations. The weekly estimation is said to be more than 5000 gallons by the end of March 2020. They have also supplied 70,000 litres of alcohol to French sanitizer producer to ramp up the production.
Ineos UK multinational chemicals company has pledged to build a sanitizer factory in 10 days. They are expected to produce 100 bottles a month and will be providing it free of cost to hospitals, places of work and schools.
Jumia, the leading e-commerce platform in Africa has announced a major partnership with Reckitt Beckiser to help consumers access hygiene products at lowest price.
Brewdog brewery chain from UK has started to deliver their first batch of sanitizer in UK under the name Brewgel.
EO Products US manufacturer has been producing 16 times more sanitizers in the month of Februaryto meet the demand caused due to outbreak.
Various online retailers are trying to inflate the prices and making undue advantage of the demand that is created. This malpractice is surely going to affect the consumer
In India various hand sanitizer manufacturers are capping the price for a particular quantity of sanitizer bottle and thus standing with the nation amidst health crisis.
To avoid people hoarding the hand sanitizer, supermarkets are coming up with the ideas to cap the sale of sanitizer to person to 1 or utmost 2. In Denmark supermarkets have increased the price of sanitizer by more than 30 times if 2 bottles are bought together.
The global hand sanitizer market is estimated at $XX Million in 2020.
Key players in the hand sanitizer market are Reckitt Benckinser Company (UK), GOJO Industries (US), Procter & Gamble (US), The Himalaya Drug Company (India), Henkel AG (Germany) and Unilever (UK).
