Surgical drapes imports of USA fall 1.42% in Jan.-Oct. ’20 period

Surgical drapes and towels import of USA fell by 1.42 per cent in values during January-October ’20 period, a fall which has been witnessed despite other PPE products like disposable apparels and masks seeing a rise in a pandemic-affected year.

Valuing US $ 512.11 million in the first 10-month period of 2020, the imports of surgical drapes and towels were marginally better in the same period of 2019 – US $ 519.46 million.

The imports were done under four HS Codes – 6307906090, 6307906800, 6307907200 and 6307908910. Surgical drapes of spun laced or bonded fibre fabric disposable and drapes of man-made fibres contributed US $ 364.55 million under HS Code 6307906800, declining by 2.93 per cent on Y-o-Y basis.

The cotton-made surgical towels (under HS Code 6307908910) also fell by 7.50 per cent on Y-o-Y basis to US $ 118.59 million.

On the other hand, the imports of surgical drapes of fabric formed on a base of paper or covered or lined with paper (under HS Code 6307906090) have seen nearly 40 per cent surge to US $ 13.76 million in Jan.-Oct. ’20 period.

The surgical drapes of all other types (under HS Code 6307906800) saw a surge of 162.10 per cent to US $ 15.18 million.