(Newswire.net — February 20, 2020) — The Corona Virus or more specifically, Covid-19, has had an instrumental affect on China and surrounding nations. At the time of writing, China have reported 1,868 deaths and 72,436 confirmed cases, this is rising day on day and we are unsure when this will start to decline. The Corona virus in India may be inevitable as the virus seems to have taken hold in Iran and Pakistan.
The virus, which is said to have started at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, could also have a detrimental affect to the UK vape industry.
How will the Corona Virus affect the UK Vape Industry?
In 2003, Hon Lik created the first commercially successful electronic cigarette. He was a 52-year-old pharmacist and inventor from Beijing who reportedly created the device after his father died from lung cancer.
He named his company Ruyan, meaning – like smoke. After plenty of research and trial and error, Hon Lik released his smoking alternative to the public in 2004. Since then China has played an instrumental part in the vape industry. At the moment, very little is being exported or imported to China, something that will more than likely affect various industries across the world. With the exception of E-liquid, the majority of the UK’s vaping products are sourced from China.
Depending on how long the Corona Virus outbreak lasts, we could potentially see a shortage of certain products on UK shelves. Stock Coils / Pods and Plastic Bottles are already proving to be difficult to source. If exportation grinds to a halt for much longer, we anticipate a shortage of hardware such as Mods and Tanks. While plastic bottles can be sourced in Europe for a higher price, stock Coils, Pods, Tanks, Drippers and most other vaping hardware is manufactured almost exclusively in Shenzhen, China.
Whilst the cost of life has been reported, the cost for China’s industry is unknown but likely to be vast. UK vape businesses will also start to feel the pinch if they are forced to purchase their stock elsewhere.
How will this shape the UK Vape Industry?
China has been relentlessly releasing new products for the past few years, so much so that the rest of the world hasn’t had time to catch up, which is why we rely on China so heavily. This could give EU manufacturers time to catch up, it will also encourage the UK to manufacture their own vape products – which isn’t a bad idea, with the amount of countries banning or heavily restricting vaping.
In all likeliness, China will be back up and running in the next few weeks and everything will be back to business as usual, but the longer the situation lasts, the more likely we are as a nation to begin looking elsewhere for products out of necessity.
What can you do to mitigate this?
Don’t go on a mad spending spree and purchase every vape product you can find, that’ll just exacerbate the situation.
Here at Flavour Boss HQ, our main piece of advice would be to use rebuildable devices. If you don’t know how to use rebuildable devices, we suggest that you learn pronto! Cotton and wire will always be readily available, we’re not likely to see a shortage of these anytime soon.
Building your own coils will also be better for your bottom line and when the next pandemic or natural disaster occurs, your vape won’t be interrupted… unless it’s an EMP!