Over January-November, China’s production of air-conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines recorded slower growth on year, while that of televisions posted an on-year decline, according to data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on December 17.
Among the four key home appliances, the output of air-conditioners grew the fastest on year over January-November, according to the NBS data. Production of televisions was the highest in quantity, but output declined by 4.6% on year to 166.5 million units. For November alone, production of televisions edged up 0.4% on month but fell by 7.5% on year to 17.7 million units, according to the data.
Sales of televisions around December 12, a sales promotion event held both online and in the retail stores, performed worse than expected. Most customers wanting televisions had already purchased them a month earlier around November 11 -China’s famous ‘singles day’ shopping event. And though television prices had softened, mainly due to the fall in LCD panel prices, this had only a minor impact on boosting sales, Mysteel Global learned.
Moreover, the domestic economy has not yet shrugged off the negative impact of the resurging pandemic, a Shanghai-based source noted, pointing out that consumer confidence is still weak, and that people are tending strongly to nurse their savings rather than spend – inevitably denting consumption.
China’s major home appliances output until Nov
Unit: million units
Some appliance manufacturers said that their sales of white goods coinciding with Singles Day were not bad, resulting in a decline in stocks. Therefore, most were willing to prepare some products in advance for the coming Spring Festival over January 31-February 6. Also, production in December will be unchanged compared to November and remain at a relatively high level in the second half of 2021, another Shanghai-based source shared.
The profit margins of white goods producers have improved markedly with the ongoing fall in raw materials’ prices, the second source added. China’s SPCC 1mm cold-rolled coil price fell by Yuan 762/tonne ($119.3/t) from November 1 to Yuan 5,477/t including the 13% VAT on November 30, according to Mysteel’s assessment.
In November, home appliance exports decreased by 5.8% on year to 339 million units, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs.
Written by Villanelle Xia, xiayi@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.
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