Protective face masks have sold out in convenience stores and pharmacies in Shanghai after the breakout of a coronavirus pneumonia epidemic. 3M's KN95-series masks at its online stores on several e-commerce platforms have likewise disappeared from the shelves.

The retail end's supply shortage directly affects factory-side production. "The plant is currently out of stock and is working overtime to produce masks," a staffer at 3M China's Shanghai plant told Yicai Global yesterday. The company has kicked its mask production into full swing and will keep it up during the Chinese new year holiday, 3M China informed Yicai Global yesterday.

The firm formed in November 1984 as the first wholly foreign-owned company in the country outside of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. Minnesota-based 3M has invested more than USD1 billion in nine China-based plants employing more than 8,200 since then.

Editor: Ben Armour