The market for dishwashers has been soaring recently in China to such an extent that Whirlpool China is anticipating even more of the same, announcing plans this week to invest more than $42-million in a new smart dishwasher plant in Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province according to the Chinese news source Yicai Global.
That source, which is the financial news arm of the Shanghai Media Group, is reporting Whirlpool China’s plans to erect a more than 258,000 square foot factory capable of producing 500,000 units per year.
The Chinese report says that retail sales of dishwashers in China had “jumped more than 33-percent in the nine months through September,” in spite of a market downturn in other traditional appliances such as gas stoves. As a result, it has been pegged as the fastest growing sector in the industry for China, and the report adds, “With fewer than two dishwashers per 100 households, the market is promising.”
The Chinese market for dishwashers has already been established as being worth more than $609.5-million U.S. dollars.
Whirlpool China’s investment of $42.56-million U.S. dollars in the new plant includes both fixed asset expenditures of just under $35-million and “circulating funds” of $7.6-million. Chinese sources anticipate a net profit forecast from the new factory of $8.5-million per year.
The new Hefei factory is slated to be complete and actively engaged in manufacturing new dishwashers by September of 2020.
