Rumours of a toilet paper shortage appear to be wildly overstated, with an industry analyst reassuring customers there’s no need to panic-buy the essential item just yet.

China is a key manufacturer of the world’s toilet paper supply and the industry is one of many hit by a general slowdown thanks to the coronavirus crisis gripping the country, sparking fears that Australia could be caught short.

But Tim Woods, managing director of market analyst Industry Edge, said shortages of anything were unlikely in Australia and stockpiling was unnecessary.

Australia imports about 40 per cent of its toilet paper from China, the rest is manufactured here.

Mr Woods said the longer the slowdown continued, the bigger the gap in production but Australia would be far down the list of countries to be affected.

“Now is not the time for panic-buying toilet paper, any more than it is time to fill your pantry with cans of baked beans,” he said.

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His comments come after reports Perth people were stripping supermarket shelves of everyday items as concern about the implications of the spread of coronavirus, formally known as Covid-19, grows.

In Japan, officials have called on its residents to stop panic-buying toilet paper after false rumours there that the supply was nearly wiped out.

And in Hong Kong, fears about a shortage is believed to be behind an armed robbery where three men allegedly stole 600 rolls of toilet paper.

But Mr Woods said that while the rumours circulating in Australia online and on talkback radio may result in a short-term run on supermarket stocks, he doubted it would last or have any lasting effect on supply.

“There might be a one-off hit to what’s on the shelves, but is that going to continue today, tomorrow and so on, I doubt it,” he said.

“People will go and buy extra packs and then they’ll go and look in their cupboards and go why have I got 90 rolls?”

Even if supplies from China dried up, Mr Woods estimated local manufacturers could step into the gap and kick up production to account for nearly 90 per cent of local supply.

“The first effects are going to be felt in the market where the production occurs and then the flow on from there are markets that are 100 per cent serviced by imports and then post that it would be some effect into those markets where there’s a mix of domestic manufacturing imports,” he said.

“I suppose in certain months time there’s a chance of there being shortages in a range of manufactured goods including toilet paper but not before there’s food shortages, because food is perishable.”