HHS Document
HHS Document
Executive Summary
In October 2020, HHS in conjunction with the Development Finance Corporation (“DFC”) began an effort to
expand the U.S. domestic manufacturing base of nitrile gloves. In November 2020, this effort was expanded by the
initial CSO program run by DoD and HHS. The initial efforts focused on expanding glove manufacturing and
production of NBR. In July 2021, HHS and DoD presented the overall “ecosystem” the USG was going to fund.
This consisted of:
● 31 billion units of glove production
● 270,000 wet metric tons of NBR
● 90,000 metric tons Butadiene
● 45,000 metric tons of Acrylonitrile
● 5,400 metric tons of Methacrylic Acid
● Dispersions to support 31 billion units of glove production
The goal of this ecosystem for 31 billion units was to provide an initial “safety value” of approximately 25% of the
annual glove usage of the U.S (120 billion units annually). Importantly, this ecosystem was to be 100% domestic, all
the way down to raw materials.
HHS Proposed Nitrile Gloves, NBR, and Key Chemical IBx (July 2021)
Current Status
To date, the following has been funded:
● 13.7 billion units of glove production at a cost of $574,234,340
o None of this production is currently operational, and there does not appear to be a timetable for
when it will be operational.
● 90,000 annual wet metric tons of NBR at a cost of $123,126,000. The facility (Blue Star’s) is 80% complete
and only needs to be connected to utility infrastructure to become operational. (The DoD contract did not
require the facility to be operational, only for capacity to be built.)
● $385 million announcement of additional NBR and key NBR chemical production capacity on September 7,
2023.
Funding to Date
Glove Manufacturing
PPE-Nitrile Gloves Award Amount Glove Production NBR Needed Notes
Units (MT)
Renco--Award 1 $ 22,400,000
Renco--Award 2 $ 13,104,000
Renco--Award 2a $ 35,000,000
Renco Total $ 70,504,000 2,550,000,000 19,125 170 workers laid off in July 2022.
Rhino--Award 1 $ 56,000,000
Rhino--Award 2 $ 70,000,000
Rhino Total $ 126,000,000 1,440,000,000 10,800 Unknown if/when glove production will
start.
Showa--Award 1 $ 37,583,749
Showa--Award 2 $ 43,701,247
Showa Total $ 81,284,996 800,400,000 6,003 134 workers laid off in July 2023.
US Medical Glove Co $ 63,612,000 2,300,000,000 17,250 Unknown if/when glove production will
start.
United Safety $ 96,083,344 2,310,000,000 17,325 Unknown if/when glove production will
Technology start
Health Supply US $ 136,750,000 4,324,800,000 32,436 Unknown if/when glove production will
start
Total Glove $ 574,234,340 13,725,200,000 102,939
Production
Investment
