A-Gas has increased its R744 (CO2) offering to meet the growing demand for lower GWP refrigerants in Australia.
The expansion began in the UK where A-Gas has tripled its cylinder fleet in the past five years.
A-Gas Australia introduced the same demand-driven product offering to its key wholesale customers in 2009.
Both companies supply only refrigerant-grade R744, with a moisture level below 10ppm.
A-Gas commercial manager Louise McCann said this has been a significant investment given the relative expense of R744 cylinders versus traditional refrigerant cylinders.
“Due to the difficulty in predicting market uptake for this offering and for the different cylinder sizes available, our initial launch was on a fairly small scale,” she said.
“From day one, this has seen our Australian cylinder fleet stretched to capacity, despite a number of cylinders having been added over the past three years.
“In the expectation of a continuing growth in demand, in 2013 we intend to increase our fleet by up to a further 60 per cent for the most popular cylinder sizes.”
However, McCann said this investment will only be effective if there is an improvement in the rate of cylinder return.
This refers to the length of time cylinders remain out in the market before being returned for refill.
“Working with customers to better understand the reasoning behind this will be central to our activities in this area,” she said.
When asked about carbon pricing, McCann said the roll-on effect of the carbon levy on HFC refrigerants has led to an increasing number of enquiries regarding alternative options.
“These include ammonia, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons as well as low GWP HFOs such as 1234yf,” she said.
“A-Gas Australia is in the fortunate position of offering all but the last of these today, while our strong supplier relationships means we are confident we will be well placed to offer HFO alternatives as these become available.
“Another product we have recently introduced which is gaining attention is R407F, originally introduced as a replacement for R22 and also a lower GWP alternative to R404A in some applications.”
McCann said it is still too early to see the full impact of the carbon levy in the market.
“In the expectation that more price-conscious customers look to reduce their initial outlay on HFC refrigerants, another product A-Gas has recently launched is a smaller cylinder size, holding 5-7kg of refrigerant dependent upon product type,” she said.
“In a similar vein to our CO2 launch, only a small number of these cylinders have been introduced in the first instance and we will be closely monitoring market uptake.”
As the year closes, McCann said the outlook will no doubt become clearer and A-Gas will continue to be proactive in introducing new products and services to meet the changing needs of customers and the wider market.
