2017 ends with 60% price rise
The European air conditioning and refrigeration industry faces record price rises of up to 60% on high GWP refrigerants R404A and R507A in December.
Even the lower GWP R404A alternatives R448A and R449A face price increases of up to 20% from next month.
Contractors and end users also face price hikes of up to 30% on the air conditioning refrigerant R410A, along with the high GWP R22 service blends like R422D, R438A and R422A.
The latest increases bring down the curtain on a year that has seen unprecedented refrigerant price rises as a result of the European F-gas phase down. But, with European HFC supplies now facing a 37% cut in 2018, finding a supplier for some of the high GWP refrigerants might prove to be more of a problem than the price.
In Germany, three of the leading air conditioning and refrigeration associations have appealed to their government over refrigerant shortages and in Italy the industry has called on its competition authority to investigate what they have described as “unjustified” and “disproportionate” price increases.