Romania imported protective face masks worth EUR 272 million in the first half of the year, with most of the imports taking place after the coronavirus outbreak started in March.

Thus, Romania ranks 10th in the European Union for the value of mask imports. Romania bought more masks than Portugal but spent less than the Czech Republic and Poland.

In the pandemic context, the value of EU mask imports increased by 1,800%, from EUR 800 mln to EUR 14 billion.

Romania spent EUR 14 on masks per capita in the first six months of the year.

Luxembourg has the highest per capita imports of lightweight masks in the EU - EUR 121 per capita, followed by Belgium, Germany, and France, each with more than EUR 50 per capita.

Mask imports were under EUR 10 per capita in Cyprus, Poland, Sweden, Croatia, Greece, and Bulgaria. China supplied 92% of the masks imported by the EU.

In the meantime, Romania has reduced its dependency on imports after local company Techtex launched the domestic production of masks. The company, which also produces the material used for making surgical masks, can now produce 600 million masks per year (50 million per month), according to Romanian banker Dan Pascariu, the head of the company’s supervisory board.

(Photo: Oat Autta/ Dreamstime)

andrei@romania-insider.com