Export of Chinese heating devices to Europe soars before winter

The energy crisis in Europe has sparked a boom in orders of heating equipment such as blankets and heaters from China, said reports.

The cost of electricity in European countries has soared since the beginning of this year on the back of embargoes on Russian gas imports following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, creating a shortage of local supplies.

This has led to orders of heating equipment from Chinese makers witnessing a 10-fold jump year-on-year as consumers across Europe brace for a difficult winter amid governments firming up energy rationing plans, Global Times reported.

Export of China's heating devices to Europe increased 14.35 per cent to $497.53 billion from January to August this year, the daily tabloid reported, quoting data from the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products.

In August, 22.54 billion units of heating devices were exported to the European market, valued at around $70 billion, the data said.

Meanwhile, daily enquiries from European buyers for electric blankets have increased fivefold at Shenzhen-based UTK Technology, a producer and seller of the blankets on the e-commerce website Alibaba. Most people request urgent shipping, Bloomberg quoted Crane Jin, UTK’s general manager, as saying.

In October, UTK expects to deliver over 10,000 blankets to countries across the continent. “We have been working overtime a lot lately,” Crane said.

UK retailers have also witnessed a similar trend. Sales of electric blankets rose 67 percent from a year earlier at department store chain John Lewis Partnership, while online searches for the products surged almost 470 percent.

Between January and July, total electric-blanket exports to Europe rose to $33.4 million, which is almost double the whole of last year, Bloomberg reported quoting data published by the China Household Electrical Appliances Association.