Seventy percent of the respondents to a recent AHR Expo survey expect the economy to be better in 2013 than in 2012. In fact, 15 percent of the respondents expect a “much better year,” while 28 percent expect the economy to remain the same. Just 3 percent expect it to be worse than 2012.
The survey was sent to more than 1,000 HVACR manufacturers worldwide.
In keeping with this optimistic outlook, 86 percent of the HVACR manufacturers believe sales will increase next year with 35 percent of these respondents expecting sales increases of more than 10 percent. Thirty-two percent forecast sales increases between 5 percent and 10 percent, and 19 percent expect increases of less than 5 percent. Eleven percent believe sales will remain the same, while only 3 percent expect sales to decrease.
Forty-one percent of the respondents said the residential sector would account for the strongest demand for new products, followed by institutional (30 percent), industrial (19 percent), light commercial (7 percent) and heavy commercial (3 percent). The industry categories expected to show the strongest growth were renovation/upgrade (42 percent), new construction (34 percent) and replacement (24 percent).
More than two thirds of the respondents (67 percent) predicted that the greatest demand for new products would come from domestic markets and 33 percent from international markets. Of these respondents, 52 percent said the greatest demand for new products would come from the healthcare segment, 45 percent from industrial plants, 43 percent the educational marketplace, and 42 percent government/civil.
To meet this demand, 75 percent of AHR Expo exhibitors are introducing new products or services at the 2013 show.
“It is good to see that manufacturers continue to be optimistic about the HVACR sector of the economy,” Clay Stevens, president of International Exposition Company, which produces and manages the AHR Expo, said.
Stevens pointed out that while the percentage of manufacturers who expect the upcoming year to be better has continued to climb every survey, the percentage expecting the economy to be worse has also been steadily declining.