World News

JAPAN: Daikin has reported Q1 air conditioning and refrigeration sales up 15.5% year-on-year to JPY1,168,861m (US$8,101m), with operating profit up 0.6% at JPY104,355m (US$722m).

AUSTRALIA: Health officials in Melbourne may have located the source of a legionnaires’ disease outbreak that has claimed two lives. 

JAPAN: Panasonic has begun an experiment to use heat produced during power generation using pure hydrogen fuel cell generators as a heat source for an absorption chiller. 

UAE: Stulz, the German mission critical air conditioning manufacturer, has announced the opening of a new centre of excellence in Dubai. 

GERMANY: MTA Deutschland, the German subsidiary of the Italian refrigeration and air conditioning manufacturer, has announced changes to its management and plans to merge its three German businesses.

SPAIN: Swedish wholesaler Beijer Ref is to acquire a majority shareholding in the GIA Group, one of Spain’s leading air conditioning suppliers.

ITALY: Lindbergh SpA, a group active in Italy and France in the maintenance, repair and operations sector, is to acquire the Italian contractors ITR Srl and Eco Manutenzioni Impianti Srl.

IRELAND: Johnson Controls chairman and CEO George R Oliver is to step down from the role he has held since 2017.

EGYPT: LG has signed a deal with Egyptian company Raya Electric to manufacture its LG-branded residential air conditioners in the country.

UK/USA: Airedale by Modine has launched its Cooling System Optimizer data centre cooling controls system in the US.

DENMARK: Danish refrigeration specialist SA-AL Køleteknik ApS, part of the Swedish Nordic Climate Group, has acquired fellow Danish contractor Polarkøl ApS.

USA: Lennox celebrated the 25th Anniversary of its initial public offering, today, with CEO Alok Maskara ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

USA: Carrier has reported strong Q2 2024 financial results with sales up 12% to $6.7bn compared to last year.

GERMANY: Bosch has described its €7.4bn acquisition of the Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning (JCH) joint venture as the biggest transaction in the company’s history, doubling its Home Comfort business.

POLAND: Customs officers in Terespol claim to have prevented seven attempts in the last month to smuggle refrigerant R134a in the LPG tanks of motor vehicles.

SOUTH KOREA: Researchers from the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) claim to have developed a technology to decompose R134a refrigerant using an industrial waste product.

JAPAN/USA/GERMANY: Johnson Controls and Hitachi have confirmed an agreement to sell their European air conditioning joint venture business to German manufacturer Robert Bosch in an $8.1bn deal.

ITALY: Lu-Ve is to supply air coolers to the latest Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant under construction in Somerset, UK, in a €27m contract.

JAPAN: German company Robert Bosch is reported to be the leading candidate to acquire the Johnson Controls-Hitachi domestic air conditioning joint venture. 

JAPAN: Panasonic’s use of vacuum insulated glass (VIG) on new reach-in freezer upright display cases is said to offer energy savings of up to 33% compared to conventional units.

SWEDEN/ITALY: Pioneering Italian chiller manufacturer Geoclima is set to be acquired by Swedish air treatment and climate solutions company Munters. 

CANADA: The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has announced a multi-million-dollar retrofit of its branches in Canada to low-carbon heating and cooling systems such as heat pumps.

SPAIN: Madrid’s municipal bus company EMT has installed bus shelters with in-built cooling systems at two locations in the city. 

SWEDEN: Wholesaler Beijer Ref has revealed Q2 as its best ever quarter, with sales of SEK9,681m (€835m) and record profitability.

ITALY: An unnamed “specialised” company from the Piedmont region of northwest Italy faces a fine of up to €150,000 for exceeding its F-gas import quota.

SPAIN: Early reports suggest a car destroyed on a street in Malaga last week was caused by an exploding refrigerant cylinder.

BELGIUM: Heat pump sales were 6.5% lower in 2023, the first fall after ten years of annual growth, threatening Europe’s 2030 climate targets.