Articles Tagged with ''economic outlook''

Responses from a 2016 AHR Expo survey sent to 1,300 exhibitors reveal optimism for the coming year among HVACR manufacturers. Results were compared to a similar survey sent out last year that gauged exhibitors’ expectations for 2015.

A new report, “Global Construction 2030,” forecasts that the volume of construction output will grow by 85 percent to $15.5 trillion worldwide by 2030, with three countries — China, the U.S., and India — leading the way and accounting for 57 percent of all global growth.

Construction activities are expected to grow at 5 percent in 2015, levelling off from the previous forecast of 8 percent in Q1 2015, according to the Q2 Construction Outlook released by FMI Corp.

Within the HVAC universe, pure-play manufacturers have led the market since January 2012 with a cumulative return of 173 percent. Diversified HVAC manufacturers and HVAC service and distribution stocks have also performed well, gaining 67 percent and 62 percent, respectively.

It seems many HVAC contractors are feeling positive about the year ahead, at least according to ACCA, which reported its January 2015 Contractor Comfort Index (CCI) scored a 74 — much higher than a year earlier when the CCI stood at 69. 

The latest report from Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) showed that average sales for HARDI distributor members increased 9.4 percent in November 2014, but that annualized growth through November was 6.9 percent, which is where it was throughout 2014. 

Year-to-date combined shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps increased 11.1 percent, and U.S. shipments of gas warm air furnaces increased 5.1 percent over the same period in 2013 (oil warm air furnaces increased 8 percent).

ACCA announced that its December Contractor Comfort Index (CCI) shows that HVACR contractors closed out 2014 feeling positive about short-term growth. The CCI for December 2014 was 71. This was up four points over December 2013 when the CCI was 67.

According to an ASHRAE and AHR Expo survey sent to more than 1,000 HVACR manufacturers worldwide, there is growing optimism for improving business prospects in 2015. Based on survey results, 87 percent of respondents said their prospects for business were either “excellent” (26 percent) or “good” (61 percent) for the coming year.

The National Association for Business Economics (NABE) announced that its June 2014 Outlook Survey panelists expect stronger economic growth for the balance of this year than they did three months ago.