How coronavirus is affecting the beauty market

As the deadly coronavirus continues to spread to more countries and the death toll escalates alarmingly, some high end beauty brands have pledged aid to help combat this scourge that emanated from the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

Barron’s reports that both French beauty & personal care giant L'Oréal and US cosmetics company Estée Lauder have donated millions to the cause.

Meanwhile, Financial Times reports that L’Oréal believes the coronavirus outbreak could cause a temporary slowdown in the beauty market in China, and in turn affect travel related retail sales.

According to the New York Times, the coronavirus had killed 811 people in China as at 9 February and led to widespread travel restrictions across the globe.

Supply of skincare ingredients that come from China, as well as cosmetic products and beauty / aesthetic devices manufactured in that country, has been severely adversely affected, given that the Chinese authorities have basically placed the country into a state of lockdown.

The New York Times believes that the knock-on effects for the global economy are going to be much larger than they were 17 years ago with the outbreak of the SARS virus. It notes that China accounts for about one-third of global economic growth.