In recent years, global sales of refrigeration compressors have continued to grow, and the position of Chinese refrigeration compressors in the global market has also been steadily improving. In particular, the continuous outbreak of overseas epidemics in 2020 has led to a large number of orders flowing to China, which further highlights China's advantages in the global value chain and industrial chain.

The epidemic has accelerated the improvement of China's refrigeration compressor status

Industry Online data shows that the overall sales volume of the global compressor industry in 2020 was 520 million units (including five major categories: fully sealed, rotor, scroll, semi-sealed and screw), and it is expected to reach 567 million units in 2021. Compressor applications are mainly concentrated in the three major fields of air conditioning, heat pumps, and refrigeration. Among them, air conditioning and heat pumps mainly use rotor, scroll and screw compressors; the refrigeration field has the largest volume, and the five major types of compressors are involved to varying degrees. In 2020, the global sales volume of refrigeration compressors was 278 million units, a year-on-year increase of 2.9%, accounting for 54% of the overall sales volume of compressors. In 2021, sales are expected to increase by 6.6% year-on-year.

In the refrigeration compressor market, China sold 228 million refrigeration compressors, a year-on-year increase of 15.5%, accounting for 82% of the world, an increase of 9 percentage points over the previous year. Although facing complex international trade situations such as Sino-US trade frictions in recent years, the sales share of China's compressors has been increasing, and the epidemic has accelerated this trend. In 2021, it is expected that the sales share of China's compressors will still be maintained at around 82%. On the one hand, it is to continue the orders in 2020, and on the other hand, through the early supply and cooperation, and relying on product and cost advantages in the future, China's product orders are expected to continue to increase.

Household refrigeration is dominated by large volume, and commercial refrigeration releases potential

From the application side, household refrigeration compressors dominate with a share of 92%, mainly in demand for equipment such as refrigerators, freezers, and water dispensers. After various policy stimuli and the rapid development brought about by the popularization of the industry, the stock of the household refrigeration market has continued to increase and is close to saturation, gradually shifting from being dominated by new additions to being dominated by renewal demand, and growth has gradually slowed down in recent years. In 2020, due to the impact of the epidemic, measures such as home isolation have driven the demand for food storage, driving the growth of household refrigeration equipment, thereby accelerating the release of demand for household refrigeration compressors. In 2020, the sales of household refrigeration compressors reached 209 million units, a year-on-year increase of 16.4%, setting a new peak for household refrigeration compressors in recent years. With the control of the epidemic and the high base in 2020, it is expected that the sales growth rate of household refrigeration compressors will slow down in 2021.

In 2020, sales of commercial refrigeration compressors reached 18.75 million units, a year-on-year increase of 6.9%. The market growth rate slowed down due to the epidemic. Although it was hit by the epidemic in the short term, in the medium and long term, the downstream demand for commercial refrigeration compressors is stable and has long-term growth space. On the one hand, the demand for commercial refrigeration equipment is rigid, and the demand will be delayed but will not disappear, and will not change the upward trend of the industry from the fundamentals; on the other hand, the commercial refrigeration equipment industry will develop in the direction of intelligence and automation. At the same time, under the influence of the epidemic, the transformation of the commercial refrigeration industry may usher in new breakthroughs, give birth to new formats, and stimulate new demands, which will bring new development opportunities for the development of compressors. The sales growth of commercial refrigeration compressors in 2021 is expected to reach nearly 20 points.

Application advantages of commercial refrigeration sub-products

Fully sealed piston compressors have a wide range of applications, and the advantages below 1HP are obvious: In 2020, 18.021 million commercial fully sealed piston compressors were sold, a year-on-year increase of 7.2%, accounting for 96% of the market share of the commercial refrigeration compressor industry. Fully sealed piston compressors are widely used in light commercial cabinets and other light commercial equipment due to their compact structure, high reliability, and long service life. Advantageous products are concentrated below 1HP. In 2021, large-volume refrigerators and freezers and light commercial refrigeration equipment are expected to maintain positive growth, driving the growth of demand for commercial fully sealed piston compressors.

The penetration of rotary compressors is accelerating, and the advantageous products are concentrated in 1-3HP: In recent years, rotary compressors have relied on energy saving and price advantages, and the proportion of applications in the field of refrigeration and freezing has continued to grow. In 2020, 251,000 rotary compressors were sold, a year-on-year decrease of 2.9%, which is the first decline since the rotary compressor entered the field of refrigeration and freezing. Since rotary compressors are mainly used in refrigerated display cabinets, small cold storage, catering and retail, etc., affected by the epidemic in the first half of the year, the number of stores opened decreased, resulting in a decrease in the demand for rotary compressors; at the same time, the market recognition of rotary compressors in the refrigeration segment above 3HP is still low, and the market development is subject to certain restrictions. In 2021, with the recovery of demand in the terminal market and the impact of last year's low base, it is expected that the application scale of rotary compressors in the field of freezing and refrigeration will achieve rapid growth.

Scroll compressors have grown steadily, and the superior products are concentrated in 3-7HP: In 2020, the sales of scroll compressors were 294,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 7.3%. Scroll compressors are mainly used in small and medium-sized cold storage, refrigeration display cabinets and other fields. In 2020, as the country continued to increase its agricultural assistance policies, the construction of small and medium-sized cold storage increased rapidly, which promoted the increase in the scale of scroll compressors. In terms of cooling capacity, 3-7HP applications accounted for 81%; in addition, scroll compressors continued to break through the horsepower limit, and the proportion of large horsepower continued to increase. In 2021, the sales growth of scroll compressors is expected to be the same as last year, mainly driven by the demand for small and medium-sized cold storage.

The market for semi-hermetic piston compressors is declining, and 15-40HP products have obvious advantages: In 2020, sales of semi-hermetic piston compressors reached 161,000 units, a year-on-year decline of 6.5%. Semi-hermetic piston compressors are mainly used in cold storage, refrigeration display cabinets, commercial ice makers and other products, and have obvious advantages in low-temperature conditions in the full cooling range of less than 40HP. At present, new cold storages are mostly concentrated in small and large cold storages with medium and high temperatures. Semi-hermetic piston compressors have insufficient advantages. Among them, those below 15HP are squeezed by scroll and rotor compressors, and those above 40HP are squeezed by screw compressors, causing the market to continue to decline.

Screw compressors are growing rapidly, and their application range is concentrated in 40-200HP: In 2020, sales of screw compressors reached 25,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 16%. On the one hand, as the cost of screw compressors decreases and the technology gradually matures, the market's recognition has increased year by year; on the other hand, due to the impact of the epidemic, the aspect of cold storage involving people's livelihood has received attention, and the country has increased its investment in cold storage construction, especially the increase in the start of medium and large cold storage projects, which has stimulated the growth of demand for screw compressors. The application of screw compressors is mainly concentrated in 40-200HP, of which 40-100HP application accounts for nearly 60%. In 2020, with the increase in medium and large cold storage projects, screw compressors above 100HP grew rapidly, and 100-200HP screw compressors increased by 29.5% year-on-year, accounting for 35.3%. Due to the cyclical characteristics of the construction of medium and large cold storage projects, it is expected that the sales volume of screw compressors will maintain a high growth trend in 2021.

At present, under the situation where price competition is the main market strategy for light commercial equipment, product quality upgrades have become an important direction for industry adjustment, which requires close cooperation and scientific decision-making of all relevant links in the industrial chain. To this end, the "2021 China Light Commercial Refrigeration Equipment Industry Development and Technology Forum" will be held on August 25-26. The forum will continue to focus on "gathering light commercial" as the main line, focusing on important issues such as light commercial equipment in supply chain management, enterprise product promotion and talent promotion paths, and jointly discuss how the upstream and downstream of the industry can work together to create a high-quality light commercial full-system solution under the new format, so as to promote and realize the overall upgrading and transformation of the industry.