The government has decided to import large amounts of melt-blown nonwoven fabric to meet the surge in demand for face masks amid the COVID-19 outbreak. 

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on Friday that it will bring in a total of 53 tons of melt-blown fabric, which is a key material for face masks, from two foreign companies. 

The ministry said the fabric will be imported through June, with the first batch of two-and-a-half tons arriving in the nation next week. 

The ministry said the selection of the two foreign companies came after it inspected 113 makers of melt-blown fabric in 33 countries from early February with the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.

Meanwhile, the Trade Ministry decided on Thursday to supply four tons of melt-blown fabric to seven manufacturers of face masks from Friday. 

The move came after the ministry and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety selected 88 mask makers that have suffered shortages in melt-blown fabric. 

The Trade Ministry has already provided the fabric to companies that make surgical masks used by medical staff and supplied six firms that ran out of stock of such fabric within a week.