Demand for white line would only be at the end of next year

Sao Paulo-the resumption of white line segment (fridge, stove and washer) should occur only at the end of 2017, industry experts believe. Until then, the challenge for manufacturers in the country will reconcile internal market still retracted and the high costs of production.
In the assessment of the Director of the consultancy GfK, Oliver Rõmerscheidt, the recovery of this industry depends on the "concrete improvement" in the economy as a whole, going beyond the increase in the optimism of the indicators. "We haven''t seen a consistent restart, only improves prospects for next year. From the moment that there is indeed greater employment and income, it will be natural that the demand for white line items increase again, "he says.
According to Rõmerscheidt, this is one of the sectors that most suffer from the economic crisis and is also influenced by the back the tax on industrialized products (IPI), which had reduced tax rate between 2009 and 2013 to boost sales in those years.
"With the boom in consumption of this period, many items of the segment were exchanged, then even have pent-up demand. It also collaborates to the recovery take a while, "says he.
The President of the industry Center of Amazonas State (Cieam), Peter Wilson, also didn''t see the beginning of next year with a lot of optimism. "While we don''t have consistent economic upturn, the consumer will not have the confidence to buy products of high added value. Lack confidence and better conditions to increase demand, "he says, citing the lack of available credit and indebtedness of families as some of the barriers that will leave the industry recovery still distant horizon.
"This year is already lost to the white line. We expect 1 2017 better, but we still have months weak, while the increase in demand will be gradual, "he predicts.
The giant Whirlpool, owner of the brand Brastemp and Consul, had revenue of $800 million in Latin America in the third quarter of 2016. A year before the company''s revenue in the region was $751 million. In a quarterly report, the manufacturer designs in advance all operations around the world. The exception is Brazil with sales forecast from 10% to 12% lower.
Electrolux''s rival already had 5.3% retracement in Latin America during the same period, reaching $442,200,000. According to the company, the result was pressing for the weak performance of Brazil and Argentina''s markets.
Sought, companies responded to the DCI.
Costs
The President of the National Association of Manufacturers of electrical and electronic products (Down) believes that the challenges referred to in the industry over the next year are not limited only to low demand. In his opinion, the high price of the main raw material of steel appliances, worries already manufacturers several months ago.
"With constant increases [steel], the industry can''t pass on price. It''s no use to be more available for consumption if the final value of a fridge is very high. We can''t have so many in such essential raw material, the production is unfeasible, "he complained.
From January to September, producing stoves, refrigerators and washing machines fell 5.7% over the same period, according to a survey by the Brazilian Institute of geography and statistics (IBGE). For Kiçula, part of this retraction is already related to the increase in the price of steel. "The trend is that the situation continue as it is. While the price of the main raw material to continue rising, there will be no output to manufacturers and this opens possibility for purchase of imported steel, "ventured the leader.
However, buying the input of foreign steelmakers can also generate a high cost to the manufacturers seen the Exchange variation. This lack of predictability also comes by reducing external orders. Data released by the National Institute of steel Distributors (Inda) indicate that imports of flat steel pile up 63.4 percent drop between January and October, totaling 515,189 tons.
According to Inda, Usiminas and Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) are advising distributors of flat steel into new price adjustments that should occur from the beginning of next month. This will be the fourth price adjustment in 2016, which already builds up a high of 40 percent, according to the President of the power lines.
Recently, some of the most important Brazilian steel producers reported that are negotiating or have already applied adjustments to large industrial customers.
Impasse
In the opinion of the Executive Chairman of the Brazil Steel Institute, Marco Polo de Mello Lopes, the constant increases recorded in the year were inevitable, since the steel mills live one of the worst crises in history. "[Increases] are related to supply and demand, anything beyond that. Over the years, steel prices have always been below inflation for the market conditions and this time had to climb ", explains the Executive.
Experts believe that the uptrend in the price of inputs should not endure for long. "I believe that with the devaluation of the dollar is possible to adjust a little better the internal market, making constant readjustment unnecessary," says the Economist GO Associates, Luiz Fernando Castelli.
For him, one thing is certain: the standoff between manufacturers and steelmakers must still crawl for the next few months. "When the value of the input increases, the industry has two options: go over price or absorb margin. But there is no room for any of the two things in the current economic context. "