World News

BELGIUM: Over 80% of heat pumps installed in Europe are assembled in Europe, compares to only around 10% produced in China.

USA: HARDI, the US association of HVACR wholesalers, claims that New York’s ban on the sale of virgin R404A and R507A could significantly disrupt food retail operations.

UK: Airedale by Modine has appointed Gareth Ellams as vice president and general manager of EMEA, succeeding soon to be retiring Adrian Trevelyan.

ITALY: Italy’s ministry of environment and energy security has reported a number of recent fines and seizures for alleged violations of the F-gas regulations.

BELGIUM: Heat pump sales grew by 11% across 16 European countries on average last year, according to preliminary data from the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA). 

ITALY: Heat exchanger product manufacturer Lu-Ve has appointed Michele Ampezzan as chief commercial officer for both its cooling and components product lines.

GERMANY: This week’s EuroShop exhibition, which ended its five-day run in Düsseldorf yesterday, was visited by over 81,000 trade visitors from 141 countries, according to the organiser.

GERMANY: British manufacturers Kenfield, Aerofoil and Ovaglas have created a triple-threat on one stand at this week’s EuroShop exhibition in Düsseldorf.

USA/FRANCE: Chemours has signed a joint development agreement with French server manufacturer 2CRSi following successful testing of its Opteon 2P50 two-phase immersion cooling fluid.

INDIA: Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Thermal Systems has established a local subsidiary in India as a production base for air conditioners.

USA: Solstice has successfully fought off another challenge to its patents on the car air conditioning refrigerant R1234yf.

GERMANY: Compressor manufacturer Bitzer will be demonstrating how  Intelligent compressor technology meets smart plant control on a joint stand with subsidiary Wurm at EuroShop this week.

BELGIUM: Eurovent Certification has exposed what it claims are instances of product underperformance in the gas cooler sector.

USA: The two leading refrigerant producers, Chemours and Solstice (formerly Honeywell), have reported large sales increases for 2025.

ITALY: Turboden SpA, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, has announced the successful start-up of what it claims is the world’s largest steam-producing heat pump.

USA: Johnson Controls has signed an agreement to acquire Alloy Enterprises, a Boston-based company focused on a proprietary platform with advanced direct liquid cooling components.

USA: Trane Technologies has completed the acquisition of turnkey data centre cooling solutions provider Stellar Energy Americas Inc, previously announced in December. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, Stellar…

USA: Watsco, the leading US HVAC distributor, saw revenues decrease 5% in 2025 to $7.24bn, despite higher average selling prices due to the A2L product transition.

ITALY: Epta has completed the purchase of Austrian commercial refrigeration manufacturer Hauser GmbH following competition clearance by the European Commission.

INDIA: Carrier has announced a $120m investment in a new commercial cooling equipment manufacturing plant on a 39-acre site in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, according to local reports.

ITALY: Police and customs officers have seized illegal F-gas refrigerant, with an estimated market value of €463,200, at the Port of Venice.

USA: US shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps fell again in December, decreasing 21.4% to 408,244 units, compared to December 2024.

JAPAN: Mitsubishi Electric is to change the name of its air conditioner and refrigeration compressor manufacturing company in Thailand.

JAPAN: Human clinical trials of Panasonic’s nanoe air purification technology is said to have shown overall improvements in hay fever symptoms.

FRANCE/USA: The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has signed a new two-year plan with ASHRAE focusing on the life cycle management of refrigerants.

USA: This year’s AHR Expo in Las Vegas earlier this month recorded an attendance of 53,315, a 4.4% increase on last year’s event in Orlando.

SPAIN: Authorities in Spain have arrested 10 people after uncovering and dismantling a criminal organisation responsible for the illegal trade of more than 15 tonnes of F-gases.