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Reuters
Two major US retailers, Walmart Inc and Target Corp, announced on Tuesday that the supply of infant formula is improving. This comes months after the country faced a severe shortage, sparking panic among parents.
Given the supply constraints that still exist, Target said it would continue to limit purchases both in stores and online.
The shortages, which began due to supply chain problems caused by the pandemic, led Abbott Laboratories, the largest U.S. supplier, to recall some products in February following reports of bacterial infections. , exacerbated by the closure of manufacturing plants.
In response, U.S. health regulators eased import policies and sold millions of cans of emergency supplies from companies such as Nestlé SA and Reckitt Benckiser. It has shipped.
Abbott said he partially resumed production of certain specialty and metabolically modified formulas at his Sturgis facility in early July, while simultaneously importing infant formula products from international factories.
Walmart Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said on Tuesday's earnings call that the shortfall the company experienced in the second quarter was easing.
Data from market research firm IRI also shows that inventory levels of infant formula in US stores have improved in recent weeks.
In its quarterly report, Walmart said discounts to clear excess merchandise and lower fuel prices allowed it to beat its quarterly sales projections, and now see a decline in annual profit. said it expects to shrink. (Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh and Uday Sampath of Bengaluru Her, Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Arun Koyyur)
