Increased risk of supply disruption for Oxygen Gas

The official reported number of COVID-19 cases worldwide exceeds 15 million, with over 617,000 deaths. The most significant numbers of new coronavirus cases reported are presently in the USA, Brazil, and India. With the World Health Organization warning that the coronavirus is spreading much more rapidly in Africa than official data suggests, the demand for personal protective equipment PPE, diagnostics, ventilators, and oxygen is likely to increase significantly.

 Although the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise sharply in many countries, national and local governments have authorized the reopening of shopping malls and other public places, raising fears of a significantly higher number of infections in the coming weeks.

The WHO estimates that with a million new Covid-19 infections a week, the world will require some 620,000 cubic meters of oxygen a day, or 88,000 large cylinders. A few companies control around 80% of the market, and demand in several countries is outstripping supplies. With more than 800,000 reported infections and rising, oxygen demand has also been increased in India. Hospitals and care centers are consuming up to 1,300 tonnes of oxygen every day, compared to 900 tonnes before the pandemic. Despite today's understandable focus on the medical sector, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on oxygen supply will be far-reaching for many other industries. The priority, which will surely be given to medical oxygen in future contingency plans, will increase the risk of supply for all other significant users in the fields of Aquaculture, Waste Water Treatment, and Purification as well as other industrial applications. Present events are forcing many relevant industries to reassess their oxygen supply situation. On-site systems will be at the forefront of measures to manage future risks to the oxygen supply. Despite the regrettable human cost of the COVID-19 pandemic, this is a strategic opportunity for DOCS (Deployable Oxygen Supply System) technology, which guarantees oxygen access regardless of the application and the industrial supply situation of the moment.

Attention is now turning to shortages in the supply of medical oxygen needed to save lives. A drastic increase in demand has already led to significant disruption in the oxygen market and breaks in the supply chain. The pandemic's global impact is already visible and will significantly affect the market for on-site Medical Oxygen Concentrators in the coming months. As a consequence, PCI Gases is experiencing a substantial increase in interest in their DOCS. Hospitals across the USA battling the coronavirus have consistently reported shortages of PPE, ventilators, and pain management drugs. Now, medical professionals are also expressing concern about the availability of oxygen.

At Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, New York, one of the epicenters of the outbreak, an emergency room doctor said, "The hospital was close to running out of oxygen." The responsible director at the University of Rochester Medical Centre noted, "We're consuming oxygen faster than we've ever consumed the oxygen in hospitals before." BOC, the largest provider of medical gases in the UK, has told non-essential customers to return their tanks of oxygen in a bid to shore up its supply to the National Health Service, which has been hit by oxygen shortages in recent weeks. Although short-term price increases are essential, the diversion of critical oxygen supplies away from other significant users and industrial applications will have more considerable long term significance. The increased risk of supply disruption is thus set to be a substantial factor in the strategic decision to secure future uninterrupted supply of oxygen for all applications.

Detailed analysis of the Impact of Covid-19 on Medical Gases Market will be available in our Full Report.