World News

USA: Daikin Applied Americas has acquired New-York-based customised HVAC solutions provider Modular Comfort Systems.

USA: Italian heat exchanger product manufacturer Lu-Ve is expanding its Jacksonville, Texas, factory with the aim to start local production of its largest dry and adiabatic coolers.

USA: Critical digital infrastructure solutions provider Vertiv is to offer Tecogen's natural gas-powered chiller technology to data centres worldwide.

GERMANY: Björn Donners has been appointed managing director of Carel Deutschland GmbH.

USA: Modine has announced $180m in orders for its Airedale by Modine data centre cooling systems from a new customer described as a leading AI infrastructure developer. 

EGYPT: Daikin Egypt has moved into a new and upgraded head office in New Cairo City. 

DENMARK: Danfoss Climate Solutions, the Danish manufacturer’s heating and cooling business, saw stable sales in 2024 at €3.1bn.

GERMANY: Customs officers from Bad Reichenhall customs office on the Austrian border recently intercepted 176 refrigerant cylinders on a semi-trailer truck carrying refrigeration equipment from Turkey.

ITALY/SWITZERLAND: Midea has created a new company, MBT Climate, through the merger of its Italian Clivet air conditioning business and the newly acquired climate division of Arbonia.

EUROPE: The European Commission’s Clean Industrial Deal and Affordable Energy Action Plan have been criticised for failing to specifically address the contribution of the heat pump sector.

EUROPE: The European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE) has called on the European Commission to recognise the strategic importance of the RACHP industry.

BELGIUM: A new group promoting the adoption of “natural” refrigerants has petitioned the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to restrict the use of PFAS within the European HVACR sector.

USA: Parts Town Unlimited, the OEM foodservice equipment and HVAC parts distributor, has reported a record annual revenue of $2.5bn in 2024.

CHINA: German fan and motor manufacturer EBM‑Papst is pressing ahead with the €30m expansion of its Chinese plant in Xi'an.

EUROPE: Significant price increases of around 20% were witnessed in high GWP refrigerants in the final quarter of 2024, compared to 2023.

USA: Hoshizaki America, the US subsidiary of the Japanese commercial refrigeration equipment manufacturer, has won a patents case claiming infringements of US patents on its crescent cuber ice machines.

JAPAN: Mitsubishi Electric is looking to use biomass plastics in its air conditioners and other home appliances.

GERMANY: GEA has installed a new high-temperature heat pump using pentane refrigerant (R601) for a Belgian sugar producer.

UK: Heat pump “guru” Graham Hendra has joined Haier as European heat pump development officer.

USA: Chemours saw sales of its Opteon brand HFO refrigerants and lower GWP HFC/HFO blends grow 14% in 2024 to $810m.

BELGIUM: The European heat pump sector has declared itself down but far from out after sales figures show an average 23% drop in 2024.

USA: Carrier Ventures, the investment arm of the Carrier Global Corporation, is backing ZutaCore, a California-based innovator of two-phase direct-to-chip liquid cooling technology for data centres. 

POLAND: Polish authorities have intercepted 500kg of a non-specified refrigerant contained in tanks under a truck.

UK: Latest research conducted by UK market research company BSRIA has exposed the volatility of the European air conditioning market in 2024.

FINLAND: The dates and agendas for the evaluations of the impact of fluorinated gases under proposed new European PFAS restrictions have now been published by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

GERMANY/UAE: Allied Heat Exchange AG (A-HEAT) is to build a 37,000m2 heat exchanger production facility for its German subsidiary brand, Güntner, in the Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA).

ITALY/SPAIN: Commercial refrigeration equipment manufacturer Epta has acquired the Spanish contracting company SET Refrigeración SL.