Steel Markets
Heating and Cooling Equipment Shipments Up in October
Written by Brett Linton
December 13, 2020
October heating and cooling equipment shipments increased to 2.08 million units, up 36.3 percent from one year prior, according to recent data from the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). Total October shipments were up 2.5 percent from the previous month. For comparison, June 2020 saw the highest monthly shipment level in Steel Market Update’s 12-year history at 2.28 million units.
Total shipments for 2020 through October hit 18.7 million units, up 5.7 percent compared to 17.7 million units shipped in the same period of 2019. As seen in the chart below, year-to-date shipments for the first 10 months of each year are now at the highest level seen in SMU’s data history.
As a three-month moving average (3MMA), total heating and cooling shipments were up 25.8 percent year-over-year, following a 19.2 percent increase in September, and a 12.1 percent increase in August. This is the fourth consecutive month that 3MMA shipments have increased on a year-over-year basis since last October. Due to the uptick in late-summer and fall shipments, this is now the largest 3MMA annual rate of change seen in SMU’s limited history, surpassing last month’s high of 19.2 percent. Prior to 2020, the previous record 3MMA annual rate of change was 16.6 percent in February 2014.
Residential and commercial storage water heater shipments increased 24.5 percent year over year to a combined 887,240 units in October; 867,466 units were shipped for residential use and 19,774 units for commercial use.
October shipments of warm air furnaces totaled 358,173 units, an increase of 21.2 percent compared to the same month last year.
Central air conditioners and air-source heat pump shipments were up 61.0 percent over levels one year ago to 831,668 total units; 497,986 air conditioners and 333,682 heat pumps were shipped in October.
The full press release is available on the AHRI website here.
Below is a graph showing the history of total water heater, warm air furnace and air conditioner shipments. To use its interactive features, view the graph on our website by clicking here. For assistance with either logging in or navigating the website, contact Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com.
Brett Linton
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