Companies that were present at the 65th edition of the AHR Expo analyzed their prospects for the near future of the Latin American market and took stock of the results of the fair.
by ACR Latin America
The AHR Expo demonstrated once again why it is the most important fair in the air conditioning, heating and refrigeration sector, a space where once again the Latin contribution was felt.
This 2013, Dallas hosted between January 28 and 30 the event that broke attendance records, thanks to the presence of more than 51,000 people of which 31,891 were visitors from different countries of the world, which for three days approached the 1,951 exhibiting companies located in 397,000 square meters of exhibition.
Additionally, the Expo featured more than 100 educational sessions, three new product and technology theaters, a showcase on building control and automation, a robust software center and the presentation of the 11th Annual AHR Expo Product of the Year Award, which was received by Rheem Manufacturing.
This company won the award for its H2AC Roofing Unit (http://www.rheem.com/H2AC/), a system that integrates air conditioning and water heater for restaurants. The equipment is able to capture heat from the air conditioning process and use it to preheat incoming water, rather than letting it go to waste, plus it can reduce energy consumption by 50%.
Market Forecasts
As usual, ACR LATINOAMÉRICA was present once again at this fair, asserting its name as the main reference of the HVAC /R industry in the Latin American region. We visited clients, met new companies, generated new contacts and made a successful cocktail where it was shared with all our relatives and enjoyed a pleasant night away from work stress.
During our stay in Dallas, we spoke with some of the exhibiting companies to tell us their impressions about the 2013 version of this event; we consult on the news they presented to their clients and inquire about the perspectives they have about their near future.
For example, Verónica Obradovich, taco's regional manager for Latin America, said that her company has already identified the countries where it will have the greatest presence. "In sales we are expecting a rise in Mexico. What is estimated is that the market will rise this year but in 2014 it will shrink and then grow again; we hope that in Peru, Chile and Panama there will be good results, since they are the countries where we are going to focus the most; we are expecting growth of 5 to 7%."
This company presented as a novelty pomp systems for hospitals, buildings or schools, which allow energy savings in projects of up to 33%.
For his part, Alexey Alimov, marketing coordinator of Systemair, hopes to expand a business that barely celebrates two years in the market under this brand, in countries such as Mexico and Chile, where they have a representation presence. "For the brand, last year was good and we were very impressed by the way people have accepted the products we offer. We put a lot of money into trade shows and advertising to let people know what Systemair is and I think for the time we've been doing well and next year we'll settle down much better."
Héctor Cavazos, commercial director for Latin America at Reymsa, hopes that this will be the year of projects for his company: "We think it's going to be a good year, it already started better than last year; larger projects are coming that are moving very fast. 2012 was good but a bit slow and uncertain, some projects did not materialize and were lengthening."
Héctor told us that as a novelty, Reymsa presented at the fair a cooling tower in fiberglass and with certified thermal capacity, in addition to a closed-circuit cooling tower, systems for water treatment without chemicals, and new models of low noise level.
Julio Londoño, Belimo's product director, also thinks about the beginning of 2013 and the end of 2012: "We have high hopes in 2013, last year was a little affected by the exit from the recession, although we have had good growth, but it is due more to renovation projects. In 2013 we expect to see more new projects."
The engineer added about the products they presented at the show that "we launched three new products: one for retrofit, for economization and the energy valve; we also participated in an event called the Control Trends Awards, where we won with the Energy Valve and the technical support group."
Latin presence
As the main references of the Latin American region, we investigate companies on the subject of the presence of our community in this international space.
Some companies were left with the perception that although the fair was quite visited by customers from all over the world, professionals from Latin America did not massively attend this year's version, compared to other fairs. Others, on the other hand, were satisfied by the contribution of the region to the AHR Expo, there are opinions of all kinds.
For example, Julio Londoño, commented that "during the fair we found many people from Latin America, perhaps Dallas allows better access due to the proximity of flights and the costs of coming to the United States, another important venue for our region is Orlando; also the weather helps a lot, because it is not the same as attending Chicago or New York, where winter is very strong."
In the same way, Samantha Torres, sales manager of the Mexican company Difusión Textil, said that "for our part we saw many people coming not only from the United States but from Latin America, from where we received more than 50% of people, at the same time we had contacts with companies from other continents. Dallas was a great success, due to the proximity to Mexico, and that is why we have realized that large companies represented by the high commands came."
Otherwise, Héctor Cavazos, Reymsa's commercial director for Latin America, experienced: "Good people came but we expected more if we make the comparison with some other exhibitions; some contacts told me that they intend to intersperse this fair (be present one year, not the other) and one of the reasons is because there are projects that are being brought since last year and maybe some are starting 2013 with a lot of workload ".
However, José Mayaudon, Luvata's international director of business development, and Richard Apodaca, Uniweld's director of exports, agreed that they expected more flow of Latino audiences.
"I expected to see more customers from Mexico, I saw many from Colombia, and from Venezuela but they did not exceed the number I had budgeted. I think Orlando was a better venue than Dallas." said Luvat's representative, while the Uniweld representative commented, "I expected a little more Latino assistance than I saw, but I already had some idea of who wouldn't be able to attend. However, there is no doubt that Dallas attracts a lot of people from Mexico, we also saw visitors from Colombia and Venezuela."
Perhaps the number of Latinos in the fairs decreases or increases for each company with respect to each edition or city where it is held, but what is certain is that Latin America consolidates its presence in the United States, which allows us to be aware of the latest developments and increases the participation of new competitors that energize our industry.
In 2014, the AHR Expo will be held in New York City, January 21-23.
