Turkish Refrigeration Industry Advances With Confident Steps As a Global Player

Air conditioning and refrigeration is a vital technology that is used extensively in all areas of our lives. Refrigeration technology is used in a wide range of areas such as food production, storage and distribution, pharmaceutical industry, blood banks, healthcare facilities such as vaccine depots, metal processing, chemical production, energy production, data centers and information technologies.
ISKID intensively continues its webinars and training activities that educate and inform the sector on the use of environmentally friendly refrigerants instead of F gases, reducing the effects of global warming, and reducing energy consumption by increasing the energy efficiency of devices, through commission studies that adopt the concept of "sustainable cooling".
Referring to the export data of the Turkish Refrigeration Industry, ISKID Chairman of the Board Ayk Serdar Didonyan said that “Cooling Systems and Components is the 3rd largest sub-sector of the air conditioning industry with exports of 1 billion 22 million dollars in 2022. In the first 5 months (January-May) of 2023, our export figures for Cooling Systems and Components amounted to approximately 445 Million Dollars and an increase of 14% was observed.
Touching on the countries to which the industry exports, Didonyan added that the cooling industry exports mainly to nearby geographies such as Germany, England, Russia, European Union Countries, America, Israel, North Africa, Middle East and Russia-Caucasus-Central Asian countries.
Energy efficient products are preferred
In recent years, air-conditioning consumers demand not only the price, but also environmentally friendly, environmentally friendly devices with high energy efficiency in their product selection. This situation is also reflected in construction companies. Construction companies, which used to want to buy the cheapest product for their projects, now want to have these devices explored by an expert before purchasing these devices, and they demand longer warranty periods. They use this guarantee as a marketing element in project sales. Quality products produced in our country are preferred by far. This trend is reshaping the air conditioning industry.
The acceleration of the transition to high-efficiency products also has a significant contribution to reducing energy consumption. Again, according to a study conducted by ISKID with its members, the electricity savings (according to the assumption that an air conditioner is used for 500 hours a year) in case of replacing non-ERP compliant devices with a product with A+++ energy level in Turkey is approximately 20% of the annual production of the Keban Dam. . This is a very important size, and considering the recently increasing energy costs, it is a savings that will have a reducing effect on the current account deficit.
SCT should be reset in our sectorISKID Chairman of the Board Ayk Serdar Didonyan touched on the subject of Special Consumption Tax, which has a negative impact on the growth of the sector, and said, “Another important issue affecting the sector is the subject of SCT. SCT is still applied on products such as air handling units with cooling, Fan-Coil devices and refrigerated market display sections. However, the products mentioned are commercial products that are different from split air conditioners for individual use and are a necessity for production. Cooling has become a basic need of our lives, but it is still considered within the scope of 'Private Consumption'. Refrigeration is an indispensable commercial and industrial product used in all areas of our lives, from food storage to health facilities, from industrial facilities to transportation vehicles. The removal of all refrigerated market display cabinets designed and produced for industrial use from the scope of SCT, especially in this period when food prices are on a serious upward trend, will have a somewhat lowering effect on food prices. Additional costs, such as SCT, both increase the cost of facility establishment and renewal, and increase the cost of food items purchased by the final consumer. It is obvious that a regulation on SCT will benefit our country in the first place, because the energy consumption levels of old cabinets are high, they consume more electricity, and they have an increasing effect on the current account deficit in countries with a deficit of energy resources such as Turkey. There is a need for government incentives for the dissemination of energy efficient products in the market and the conversion of low energy efficient devices to high energy efficient devices.
Periodic maintenance is important
Ayk Serdar Didonyan also mentioned the importance of periodic maintenance of air conditioning devices and said, “As it is known, air conditioning devices are one of the highest energy consumption items of a facility. Periodic review and regular maintenance are of great importance for air conditioning devices to work efficiently and energy-efficiently and to have a long life. We recommend that the facilities take action by holding periodic review meetings with consultant engineers and technicians for an efficient and long-lasting air conditioning system.”