More medical gloves are coming from China, as U.S. makers of protective gear struggle

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MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images

MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images

A 85-foot-tall, dark-gray building stands in southern Virginia, surrounded by grassy fields and rolling blue mountains. This brand-new chemical plant was set up during the pandemic to produce a special type of synthetic rubber that's needed to make medical exam gloves, the kind used everyday by doctors and nurses.

But so far, this factory has produced nothing.

About 340 miles northeast, in Maryland, another brand-new factory sits idle and unfinished. This one was designed to take that kind of synthetic rubber and transform it into medical gloves. It's a 735,000-square-foot building full of equipment, but the machines inside of it have not been fully set up.

Zero gloves have been made.

Farther north, a glove factory in New Hampshire acquired four high-speed production lines, so it could start churning out medical gloves quickly. But those lines have not been completely assembled.

That company recently laid off over 100 workers.

Together, these glove-manufacturing projects got about $290 million in public funding, part of a roughly $1.5-billion investment made by the federal government since the start of the pandemic to boost American production of medical masks, gowns, and gloves, plus the raw materials needed to make them.

The goal was to reduce the reliance on imports from Asia and to help prevent dangerous shortages of these essentials from happening again during future health crises.

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Blue Star NBR

Blue Star NBR

But a group of manufacturers says that the effort has stalled &#; and that some American companies trying to make personal protective equipment (also known as PPE) are facing financial circumstances that threaten them with ruin.

"The commitment the U.S. Government made just three years ago appears to have been abandoned," executives recently wrote to lawmakers in Congress.

Greg Burel, who directed the federal Strategic National Stockpile for a dozen years, told NPR that having some PPE manufacturing in the United States is "vital" for preparing for any kind of event that would break the normal supply chains and leave countries around the world vying for these critical items.

Asked if the nation was better off now, versus a few years ago, in terms of having reliable access to PPE in a global emergency, Burel said, "No. I don't think so."

"What the government has done is invested in this industrial base expansion," says Burel. "But there are no other particular incentives for the U. S. healthcare marketplace, on a day-to-day basis, to buy product coming out of those expanded manufacturing capabilities."

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which worked with the Department of Defense to give out grants during the pandemic, says that the efforts by the HHS have "strengthened our preparedness for future public health threats but sustaining the gains that our country has made over the last few years is difficult, important, and requires continued investment in domestic manufacturing."

The only facility in the U.S.

A close examination of one key medical item &#; medical exam gloves &#; illustrates why manufacturing this protective gear has proven so difficult.

Over 100 billion basic exam gloves get used each year in the United States, and business executive Scott Maier says that all but a tiny fraction of them come from Asia.

Even before the pandemic, Maier dreamed of manufacturing medical gloves on U.S. soil. He figured that with automation, he could get prices low enough to compete with makers in Malaysia, which had been the world's main glove supplier for years.

"That's what we were trying to do," says Maier, the CEO of a company called Blue Star NBR. "But trying to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to make a commodity, before the pandemic, was not an easy feat."

As a novel coronavirus began to race around the world in , however, hospitals found themselves desperately short of PPE, with doctors and nurses forced to ration masks and gloves.

With the pandemic underscoring an urgent need to increase the on-shore production of these items, government officials scrambled to figure out what kinds of funding could be found and mobilized across various agencies.

Maier originally had a two-part plan to build a glove factory, plus a chemical plant that could churn out the raw material needed to make the gloves.

The Department of Defense announced in that "on behalf of and in coordination with" HHS, it would provide over $123 million for the chemical plant that would produce rubber.

Technically the rubber is called nitrile butadiene rubber, or NBR, and it's the preferred material for gloves these days because so many people have allergies to latex.

"This is the only facility in the U.S. that can make a medical-grade NBR," Maier said during a recent tour of the facility, as he pointed out reactors and mixing tanks &#; all of which stand empty and unused.

When it's first made, the NBR is a white liquid that looks like viscous milk, and Blue Star NBR has been making test batches in a trailer near the plant, on the other side of some train tracks. One suitcase-sized container of it bore a sticker with an American flag that said "PROUDLY MADE IN USA."

"The easiest way to think about making NBR is to think of making a salad dressing," Maier says &#; a key difference being that some of these ingredients could go boom if they're handled in the wrong way.

If this chemical plant was operational, it could make 90,000 metric tons of the rubber each year, which Maier says is enough for 12 billion regular exam gloves or 6 billion thicker, "chemo-rated" gloves.

A big reason it's not online, Maier says, is because his company wasn't able to secure funding for its planned glove manufacturing factory, which was going to share certain set-up costs with the chemical plant.

At one point he'd been hoping to get money made available as part of the Defense Production Act program, which used experts on facilitating government loans at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

Blue Star NBR and the DFC dispute the details of what happened &#; the agency says the company withdrew its application to seek other funding that aligned with its construction schedule, while Maier says he didn't withdraw it and that the agency ran out of time in their funding authorization.

Today, where the glove factory was going to be, there's just a vacant lot.

Looking for customers

When Maier went back to the government seeking more help, he says officials told him the contract he'd gotten only required him to create the capacity to make rubber, not to actually produce it.

"We thought that was odd," says Maier.

Asked if Maier's account of that was true, a spokesperson for HHS responded that the agency "engages with all potential vendors and contract awardees interested in domestic manufacturing to fulfill deliverables and ensure a more resilient public health supply chain."

Maier estimates that Blue Star NBR would need $60-70 million to finish up the chemical plant and hook it to utilities. He's eager to have it start producing rubber, in part because the expectation of new manufacturing jobs moved state and local officials to contribute millions of dollars in land and infrastructure upgrades.

"We believe firmly that this is a good project for southwest Virginia. It was lauded as transformative when it was announced, and I firmly believe that it will be, once it's realized," says David Manley, executive director of the Joint Industrial Development Authority of Wythe County in Virginia, who hopes to see both the plant completed and the glove factory built.

As far as he can tell, Manley says, Blue Star NBR has acted in good faith. "They have built a very impressive facility on that piece of property," says Manley. "I feel like right now, the biggest barrier is finance, frankly."

Even if Blue Star NBR's rubber factory somehow got finished, they'd need to find customers for this raw material.

A spokesperson for HHS says that it invested approximately $574 million to increase the domestic manufacturing capacity for medical gloves by 7.2 billion gloves a year.

But Maier told NPR that he wasn't aware of any glove-makers that had gotten funds that were actually producing additional gloves at this time.

Asked about that, a HHS spokesperson said the investments "are resulting in expanded domestic production, with the capacity to produce 2.3 billion nitrile gloves annually by March , and an additional 133 million annually by September ."

Maier knows of only a few glove manufacturers currently operating in the U.S. and he doesn't think they'd buy enough rubber for his chemical plant to financially make it.

"For this facility to just break even," he says, "we need to sell about 40,000 to 45,000 metric tons."

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HHS says this isn't the only government-funded project for the production of the raw material needed for gloves, and that it expects "the capacity to produce up to 90,000 metric tons by September of ."

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An artificially low price

One would-be glove manufacturer who might want to buy American-made rubber in the future is United Safety Technology.

"What's the point of making gloves here if we are relying on imported raw material?" asks Dan Izhaky, the company's CEO.

His company also received government money &#; over $96 million that again came from the Department of Defense on behalf of HHS &#; to create a glove production factory that he says could potentially churn out 10 billion gloves a year.

The company has set up shop in a vast building outside of Baltimore that used to belong to Bethlehem Steel. It's filled with truck-sized metal boxes that Izhaky says are like a giant Lego set &#; modules of machinery that together will make up the production pipeline.

"These blue things are ovens that cure and bake gloves," he explains as he gives a tour.

This factory isn't finished. "Trying to stand up a facility like this in the middle of a pandemic was challenging," he says, explaining that they got hit with unexpected expenses and inflation.

Plus, the entire global glove market shifted. At the start of the pandemic, the U.S. bought most of its gloves from Malaysia, which had the lowest prices.

But China started selling even cheaper gloves and is rapidly taking over the U.S. market.

"Basically, they're selling at what we believe to be an artificially low price," says Izhaky. "It's really hurting the whole global industry, other than the Chinese."

During the pandemic, China was accused of covering up the extent of the outbreak in order to hoard medical gear.

If masks, gowns, and gloves continue to come overwhelmingly from overseas, says Izhaky, it'll be déjà vu in the next crisis, with American nurses and doctors having to make do &#; or do without.

"It could be a pandemic, it could be a geopolitical event, we don't know what it would be," he says. "But once global supply chains shut down, if we don't have some domestic capability to produce this, then it's shame on us, all of us."

A penny versus a nickel

The government does stockpile some emergency supplies. But Greg Burel, the former stockpile director, says there would never be enough money to buy everything needed for a pandemic and just keep it on the shelf indefinitely.

"That means we have to rely on going to the market during an event at some point," says Burel.

And in that market, he says, American PPE manufacturers are in a tough spot: "No matter what these people do, they are never going to outcompete many of the foreign-made products."

The usual customers for these products are large hospital consortiums and healthcare distributors, which just want something that works and is cheap, says Eric Toner, with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

"If they can get a glove for a penny versus a nickel, they are going to go for the penny," says Toner.

While the government could set up subsidies and incentives to make American-made PPE more attractive to customers, says Toner, that would mean spending money for something that, most of the time, isn't needed.

"I think in the current political environment, it would be a really hard sell," says Toner.

But PPE manufacturers say their products would be needed in a pandemic, and they desperately need help, in the form of long-term direct-from-the-factory purchase contracts, or reimbursements for health care organizations that spend extra money to buy American-made products.

"The government has not yet given the indication that they're going to believe in these factories that they invested in. And they should. They need to," says Richard Renehan, CEO of Renco Corporation based in Manchester, Massachusetts, which produces specialty gloves for use in clean rooms and certain medical applications.

When demand for basic exam gloves surged during the pandemic, Renco received $70 million in federal funding to acquire four new high-speed production lines for a glove-making site in Colebrook, New Hampshire.

Renehan says the cost of everything spiked during the pandemic, so those production lines aren't fully assembled. He's spent two years appealing to the government for more money to finish the job.

And with China now selling gloves for the low price of around $0.02 each, he says, his company recently had to lay off workers.

If a government agency or other customer wanted to order from Renco, he says they'd jump at the chance to produce basic exam gloves, especially if it was a long-term contract.

But for now, Renehan says, "We're on hold. We do not have the funding or orders to make them."

Asked what could be done to help companies like these that had gotten grants but now found themselves in a bind, a spokesperson for the HHS said that agency officials had recently conducted "a thorough set of reviews, including deploying personnel on-site where needed, to determine how to most efficiently utilize remaining contract resources and, if needed, adjust the scope" of projects that were behind schedule or over budget.

The spokesperson says HHS is continuing to work closely with companies and the rest of the government to try to "increase the sustainability of the domestic manufacturing gains made during the COVID-19 response."

Meanwhile, experts on the medical supply chain continue to worry about shortages of essentials during the next health emergency.

"We're not in a better position," says Burel. "If we have no domestic manufacturing capability &#; particularly some domestic manufacturing capability that can ramp up quickly at the time of need &#; we'll see the problem recur again if there is another pandemic."

Nitrile gloves typically cost around $0.10-0.18 per glove, though the exact price can vary a lot depending on things like thickness, style, and manufacturer. Where you shop for nitrile gloves also matters, as some sellers are able to offer much better prices than average. We&#;ll help you understand the factors affecting the price of nitrile gloves so you can find the best possible deal.

We&#;ve been supplying businesses and consumers with disposable gloves since the early 90. In that time, we&#;ve seen just how much their prices can change based on how they&#;re sourced, packaged, and sold. And we&#;ve figured out how to get top-quality, medical-grade nitrile rubber gloves into our customers&#; hands at bargain prices. Keep reading for our definitive guide to getting the best price for nitrile gloves.

Nitrile Glove Price Guide

How much should you usually expect to pay for nitrile disposable gloves? The answer depends on a lot of factors, but one of the most important is how many you&#;re buying at once. Most sellers will offer at least a slightly lower price when you buy nitrile gloves in bulk.

How Much Does a Box of Nitrile Gloves Cost?

A standard-size box of nitrile gloves, containing 100 gloves, usually costs between $11 and $18 ($0.12-0.18 per glove). You can sometimes find them for less, but this is usually only a temporary sale.

How Much Does a Case of Nitrile Gloves Cost?

You can often start to find better deals when you purchase nitrile gloves in cases of or more. A case of nitrile gloves will most often cost around $75 to $140, giving you a price per glove of roughly $0.08-0.12.

How Much Do Bulk and Wholesale Nitrile Gloves Cost?

If you have a large need for personal protective equipment and you&#;re willing to buy multiple cases of nitrile gloves, you may be able to get even larger discounts. Nitrile glove suppliers are often happy to work out deals with long-term clients or people placing substantial orders.

The terms of wholesale pricing deals often depend on a variety of factors, such as the range of styles and sizes needed and the frequency of restocking. This makes it hard to estimate an average price for bulk nitrile gloves. That said, it&#;s not uncommon to find suppliers willing to sell nitrile rubber gloves for $40-60 per case (or $0.04-0.06 per glove) at wholesale quantities.

What Else Affects The Cost of Nitrile Gloves?

Quantity isn&#;t the only thing that can affect the nitrile glove price consumers pay. Other notable factors include:

Nitrile Glove Thickness

The average nitrile glove prices listed above are typical for gloves with a thickness of 4-6 mils, which is fairly standard for medica gloves. But some jobs may call for more puncture resistance or durability, which means thicker nitrile gloves. These require more material, so they tend to cost a bit more.

You can expect to pay $16-20 per box ($0.16-0.20) for gloves in the 7-8 mil range. 9-10 mil nitrile gloves cost even more &#; $20-35 per box ($0.20-0.35 per glove) is typical.

Nitrile Glove Quality

It&#;s easy to assume disposable nitrile exam gloves are more or less interchangeable, but that&#;s not the case. Some brands are made with better materials, more reliable manufacturing processes, or better quality control. Low-quality nitrile gloves may cost less, but they&#;re also more likely to rip or cause irritation.

Glove sellers may also charge more for certain specific features. For example, some nitrile gloves have textured surfaces to enhance your grip. Others are powder-free or made without chemical accelerators so that they can be used even by people with rare glove allergies. These can all increase the cost of nitrile gloves.

Where You Buy Nitrile Gloves

You may also pay significantly more or less for nitrile gloves depending on where you purchase them. For example, big box stores like Home Depot often charge more per box of nitrile gloves because they&#;re only selling in quantities of 10-100 at a time. And large suppliers may charge a higher markup for small orders because their business model focuses on large repeat clients.

Take a look at this article for more information on where to buy nitrile gloves. It gives some tips on finding the best nitrile glove pricing without sacrificing quality and customizability.

Why Are Nitrile Gloves So Expensive Lately?

Nitrile exam gloves have always been more expensive than other kinds of disposable gloves. They&#;re latex-free, which reduces the risk of allergic reactions, and they offer better tear resistance and a more comfortable fit than vinyl gloves.

However, there&#;s no denying that the standard nitrile glove price has gone up substantially over the last few years. There are a few important factors behind this shift:

Cost of Raw Materials

Shifts in the price of the raw materials needed to make synthetic rubber have boosted the price of nitrile gloves. For a dramatic example, look at , which saw severe flooding in Malaysia that disrupted local industries. Since that region is one of the world&#;s primary producers of butadiene &#; a key ingredient for nitrile disposable gloves &#; the price spiked dramatically. The cost has come back down somewhat since then, but events like these can make nitrile glove pricing hard to predict.

Supply Chain Issues

Other changes around the globe have impacted shipping speeds, factory operations, and other elements of the supply chain behind the disposable glove industry. Delays at ports caused by the war in Ukraine, for instance, impacted one of the world&#;s largest manufacturers of nitrile gloves in . Other changes, like parts shortages and fluctuations in the price of oil, continue to make nitrile glove prices somewhat volatile.

Public Health Concerns

Rising and falling demand can also play into the average nitrile glove price. We saw this play out on a huge scale during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since nitrile gloves are hypoallergenic, puncture-resistant, and capable of standing up to harsh chemicals, they&#;ve long been a go-to choice for personal protective equipment among doctors and nurses. The global health crisis meant these professionals were going through disposable nitrile exam gloves much faster than before.

At the same time, businesses that normally didn&#;t need to use disposable gloves suddenly had to worry about spreading the virus. And the general public was also looking for ways to protect themselves. These users tend to choose nitrile gloves for the same reasons health workers do. The resulting surge in demand is a big part of why nitrile gloves are so expensive compared to where they were a few years ago.

How Can You Find Cheap Nitrile Gloves?

The best way to save on the cost of nitrile gloves is to buy them in bulk from suppliers who offer discounts based on quantity. Trying to buy cheap in small batches will likely mean you end up with flimsy, poorly-fitting gloves. Purchasing wholesale lets you save money while still ensuring your workers and customers stay safe.

For the best combination of affordable prices and superior protection, shop for nitrile gloves at Gloves.com. We stock only trustworthy brands whose quality control standards are verified by third-party labs. Get in touch with our sales representatives to work out a nitrile glove pricing plan that fits your needs!

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