Diaper manufacturers win either way. For a while.
From CNN, October 19:
Nestlé plans to close one of its plants that make baby formula, citing a sharp drop in China’s birth rate, in a fresh example of the far-reaching implications of the country’s demographic crisis.
The world’s largest food company said Wednesday that it would shut its Wyeth Nutrition infant formula factory in Askeaton, a town in Ireland, by the first quarter of 2026 unless a buyer could be found. The plant makes infant formula products exclusively for export to markets in Asia.
The announcement provides new insight into how the decline in China’s population could affect Western firms that sell goods and services in the country. An aging population is already weighing on China’s economic growth, and policymakers are worried that a shrinking workforce could threaten economic and social stability in the long term.
“The number of newborn babies in China has declined sharply from some 18 million per year in 2016 to fewer than 9 million projected in 2023,” Nestlé said in a statement. “The market, which had previously been reliant on imported infant formula products, is also seeing rapid growth in locally produced products.”
A Nestlé research and development center at the plant will be closed a year earlier. Work at both facilities will be shifted to existing factories in China and Switzerland....
....MUCH MORE
And obviously, EU demand isn't going to step up and take the surplus.
