KARACHI: Hot weather in Ramazan coupled with prolonged loadshedding has pushed up sales of spilt air conditioners and refrigerators all over the country.

Talking to Dawn, dealers said most buyers are purchasing air conditioners to shield most vulnerable members of families, young children and elderly who are at a greater risk of heat stroke.

Many others are purchasing air coolers, a cheaper alternative to ACs, which consume less power and can be run on generators and UPS.

Consumers are also buying refrigerators of 12-16 cubic feet in higher numbers than deep freezers probably for cold water in the summer season.

A dealer at Hashoo Centre said increasing turnover of buyers in Ramazan has lifted the sales of split ACs by 30-40 per cent followed by a 15-20pc rise in sales of refrigerators.

He said some people are also exchanging old refrigerators with newer models.

Demand and sales of air conditioners would remain upbeat as long as the scorching heat continues to persist, the dealer said.

In mid April, assemblers and dealers blamed each other for increasing the prices of split ACs by Rs1,500-3,000. Currently, the markets are not facing shortage of split ACs or refrigerators despite a surge in demand.

President Karachi Electronic Dealers Association (KEDA), Mohammad Rizwan Irfan claimed 15-20pc rise in sales of air conditioners. He said air conditioner sales could have been better if the power supply situation was normal. “Rising mercury levels are enough to boost sales,” he added.

Mr Irfan said sales of refrigerators surged by 8 to 10pc with Ramazan.

An official in a Lahore-based company Gree told Dawn that sales are better than previous years.

Attributing bolstering split AC sales in Punjab to hot weather, he added that ample stocks are available in the market.

He said Gree increased its production to almost 100pc from April 2017. The market share of inverter ACs has gone up to 60pc of total market. It was 50-55pc last year, he added.

According to the figures of Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM), production of air conditioners dropped to 205,198 in July-March 2016-17 from 218,181 units in same period last fiscal as demand remained low during August to March mainly.

Production of refrigerators rose to 1.267 million units in July-March 2016-2017 from 1 million units in the same period last fiscal.

A total 80,208 deep freezers were produced in the nine months of current fiscal year as compared to 55,206 units in the corresponding period of last fiscal.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2017