With cases of the coronavirus increasing worldwide the impact is going to start hitting nearly all major industries, and eventually the consumer. China was first hit by the virus and as a result it’s commercial industry stalled in the initial outbreak and spread. Now businesses throughout China’s manufacturing cities are trying to return to work but are struggling due to the travel restrictions placed on millions of Chinese workers. With over 20% of the world’s goods manufactured in China the rest of the world is starting to feel the strain as supply chains run dry.
COVID-19 & The Vape Industry / Products
The vaping industry is one of those industries that will start to feel the strain as 90% of all vape products are made in China. Some of the major players such as SMOK, Aspire and a few others have European and US commercial hubs but all of these rely on receiving goods from the mainland. COVID-19 (Coronavirus) is very similar to the previous SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV and although the scientists don’t yet fully understand the exact working of COVID-19 they believe it behaves in a similar way to SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. What does this mean? Well, believe it or not, the previous SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, (and we believe the current COVID-19 virus), has poor survival life on surfaces which means that the virus does not travel well.
Vape Products & Packages From China
There is a very low, practically non existent, chance of contracting or spreading coronavirus from, or by, receiving packages from China. The length of journey of the products plus the ambient temperatures means that there is little or no risk of the virus surviving on any packages shipped. The problem for the vape industry in the UK, US and worldwide, is not the virus itself. It’s the lack of supply of those vaping products that is going to affect the market. As stated earlier over 90% of vaping products originate from China, and as these manufacturing and supply companies have been forced into extended holidays and their workers travel restricted under quarantine laws all means the manufacturing and supply process has come to a halt to a large extent.
The result of this halt on the vaping industry is that vaping devices, products and accessories, as well as vape industry supplies like plastic bottles are all going to be affected. The consumer will start to feel the pinch when their local vape shop (online or offline) starts to run low and even run out of certain products. As businesses in china struggle to start up again and meet high demands from suppliers waiting for goods it’s anybody’s guess how long this supply disruption to the industry is going to last.
The Horse Has Already Bolted
For vape businesses that have only just realised the impact of coronavirus on their vape business it’s too late. The only avenue open to these vape businesses, to avoid any ‘out-of-stock’ scenarios is by purchasing products and stock through EU and US companies that are holding large stock. This is a short term remedy as the prices will be a lot higher than they are used to paying which means profit margins will be decimated resulting in some businesses having to let go of staff or even closing their doors.
