Switzerland Restores Strategic Ethanol Reserve Two Years After Emptying It

(Bloomberg) -- Switzerland, concerned about a shortage of alcohol used to make hand sanitizer during the coronavirus pandemic, will reinstate a strategic ethanol reserve it had abandoned in 2018.

The government said Wednesday it approved 5.82 million francs ($6.4 million) for an interim solution. Two years ago, Switzerland got rid of a stockpile of 8,000 tons to 10,000 tons to make disinfectant in case of a pandemic amid efforts to privatize the nation’s alcohol market.

“This is to ensure short- and medium-term supply in case of renewed rapidly increasing demand enough ethanol is available to supply the country,” the government said after a meeting on Wednesday.

The decision to scrap the reserve contributed to shortages of disinfectant products including hand sanitizers, which rapidly vanished from store shelves in Switzerland and elsewhere as the pandemic spread across the globe.

The supply squeeze prompted private industry from distilleries to Swiss perfume producer Givaudan to make alcohol-based gels to meet demand. The country has a history of stockpiling strategic goods for emergencies, including antibiotics, vaccines, rice, insulin and heating oil.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.