The world might be running out of condoms in the near future, thanks to Coronavirus. In the wake of the global pandemic, Malaysia-based company Karex Bhd., the world's largest condom maker, has announced that they might be running low on condoms in the next few months, Bloomberg reports. The company only started production again on Friday after it was shut down for a week. Even then, they're only working with half of their staff. On top of that, China and India are where the majority of their production occurs but both countries are dealing with the heavy impact of COVID-19.
Their current supply has fallen by nearly 50% while their stockpile can stretch for about 2 months. As more people stay inside, the demand for condoms is increasing but people are also trying to avoid having kids with the economic uncertainty of the globe, Group CEO of Karex, Goh Miah Kiat said.
“I would definitely say this is an unprecedented stage, we have never seen such a disruption," Goh said before warning that their might be price hikes on condoms moving forward. "We are still paying all our workers full salaries but workers only come in half the time so generally there will be a cost increase."
Meanwhile, Durex, who produce over 5B condoms a year to more than 140 countries worldwide, is facing even more difficulties as governments shut down borders and flights globally.