Photo: Yonhap News
South Korea is lifting its export ban on nonwoven fabrics used to produce masks that protect against COVID-19 as the domestic supply of the materials and masks have stabilized.
Under a decision announced Tuesday by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the government will lift the regulation that bans firms from exporting more than 15 percent of their nonwoven fabrics starting Friday.
Earlier this year, the country ran out of melt-blown filters amid soaring demand for masks during the early stage of the coronavirus pandemic.
A de facto rationing scheme was implemented in March, allowing people to purchase a limited number of face masks per week, and was later lifted in June.
In a separate report, the drug safety ministry said South Korea's production of protective masks reached 300 million units from September 28 to October 11.
The country's weekly production of masks had hovered below 100 million through late May.
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