Alfa Laval seeks to adjust to weaker market

The company is a leading provider of products and services based on its key technologies of heat transfer, separation and fluid handling.

Its products targeted at the food and beverage processing sectors include heat exchangers, separators and filters and equipment that safely transports, controls and regulates fluids.

Alfa Laval said in a statement that group sales grew about 11 per cent, including positive currency swings, to 8bn Swedish Kronor, but that due to a weakening market during the fourth quarter coupled with expectations for 2009, its restructuring initiatives have been further intensified.

Reductions​

The company said that it has initiated measures to reduce the number of its employees by about 1,000 globally during the first six months of 2009; 300 of these will be located in Sweden.

In November, the manufacturer reported that it expected demand in the year's final three months to be in line or lower than the previous year’s fourth quarter.

According to the engineering group, the decline in the quarter was particularly significant in Central and Eastern Europe and Asia, and from a market perspective, the drop was most significant in its marine and food sectors.

The company said that the cuts are expected to yield annual savings of about 400m Kronor, while the cost of implementing the measures was seen at 300m Kronor, part of which would be charged in the fourth quarter.

Heat exchanger market​

Meanwhile, a report from Global Industry Analysts claims that the world heat exchangers market is poised for a modest growth to reach about US$10.49bn by 2010.

Heat exchangers are vitally important within beverage manufacture as a means of transferring heat from one product to another, in order to better control the production process. Processors must select the right heating element to ensure the quality of the products and the efficiency of the processes.

The analysts state that rising energy prices as well as regulatory pressure on industries for more efficient use of energy are expected to be among the major drivers of heat exchanger market growth in the near future, with the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and refrigeration industries forecast to be the fastest growing end use sectors for the equipment.

Furthermore, market research group, Frost and Sullivan, forecasts annual price increases for heat exchangers of three to five per cent until 2013.

(1 EUR = 10.7598 SEK)