China’s exports of heating appliances, including electric heaters, electric blankets and heat pumps, have witnessed explosive growth this year as the continent is in the grip of its biggest energy crisis in decades, with natural gas supplies from Russia becoming volatile, industry experts said. The European Union’s Statistics Bureau showed that the annual inflation rate of energy prices in the EU reached 38.3% as of July, among which natural gas and electricity prices jumped 52.2% and 31.1%, respectively. Many European countries have hastened efforts to push forward the transition of their energy structures. China’s General Administration of Customs said the country’s exports of electric blankets and electric heaters skyrocketed 97% and 23% year-on-year, respectively, in the first seven months.
The European market has been a major growth engine for China’s home appliance exports. There is surging demand for imported electric heaters, especially in Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany, while demand for electric blanket imports more than doubled in Greece, Italy, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands. Currently, China is the main supplier of air source heat pumps to Europe, taking up about 60% of global market share, said the China Household Electrical Appliances Association. In the first half, China’s exports of air source heat pumps to Bulgaria, Poland, Italy and Spain soared 614%, 373%, 198% and 71% year-on-year, respectively.
“Russia has cut off gas supplies to several European countries, which has led to price spikes of natural gas and other energy, thus bringing huge demand for energy- saving heating appliances,” said Bo Wenxi, Chief Economist at marketing firm Interpublic Group China. Germans bought 600,000 electric heating devices during the first half, up almost 35% from a year earlier, according to market researcher GfK. Sales revenue of China’s air source heat pump industry amounted to CNY7.19 billion in the first half, up nearly 30% year-on-year, based on data from ChinaIOL.com, a professional research institute focusing on the home appliances market, the China Daily reports.
