LONDON/BENGALURU (Reuters) – As numerous European borders restrict travel to stop the spread of COVID-19, two of the world’s greatest pulp makers say transportation logjams are postponing deliveries of the raw material – the only ingredient in the toilet paper that individuals are hoarding to weather quarantines.
FILE PHOTO: Toilet tissue is seen in this illustration taken, April 6,2020 REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/Illustration/File Image
In March, countries consisting of Norway, Germany and Spain shut their borders to non-essential travel. Freight can still travel through, but imposing the brand-new rules holds up deliveries to freight trains and vessels bound for storage facilities and factories in The United States and Canada and China.
As a result, Finland’s Metsä Fiber and Sweden’s Södra Cell International told Reuters that truckloads of pulp going through Europe are getting caught in traffic jams for hours, or even a number of days.
Pulp-based items – like Kimberly-Clark’s ( KMB.N) Cottonelle toilet paper and P&G’s ( PG.N) Pampers diapers – are among the most sought-after products worldwide as individuals stay at home to slow the spread of COVID-19 While consumer companies presently have adequate stock of a lot of items to satisfy the unmatched demand, they are urgently ramping up production so they have stock on hand if quarantines extend.
Even short delays of pulp will stop devices from running – a waste of time and cash that will drive up expenses.
” Generally you don’t need to worry about transportation; is it on time? Has it left? Is it in freight? We have to have more communication to minimize the risk,” stated Ari Harmaala, head of sales at Metsä Fibre, the world’s second biggest softwood pulp producer and a supplier to Kimberly-Clark.
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