Electrical appliance sales down sharply, but expect a rebound in 2019

Normality implies, according to the appliance manufacturers, between two and three months of stock to support sales in the market and the level of employment. Currently, in the midst of an economic recession and a slowdown in retail sales, the amount of stored goods reaches eight months.

The impact on the labor market is already perceived. Yesterday, a mobilization of workers from Siam (Newsan) cut the bridge of Pueyrredón after the dismissal of 20 employees and the justice expelled them after a call for compulsory conciliation. Today, there will be another meeting at work. "It is difficult to maintain employment," said Reuen Newsan founder Ruben Chernajovsky yesterday at a meeting with reporters. The Siam ice cream factory in Avellaneda was to produce 100,000 per year. "We are reducing it to a minimum," he lamented. There work 150 workers.

The figures provided by Indec yesterday quantify the meager reality of the sector. The sale of refrigerators, by case, dropped by 17.6% year-on-year in the third quarter of this year, measured in units. But there were more casualties: dry cleaners, dishwashers, drywall (-28.6%), electric stoves, electric ovens and microwaves (-33.8%), desktops, notebooks,
all in one (-41.5%), tablets or iPad (-26.8%), cell phones (-19.8%), small appliances (-23.2%) and video game consoles and accessories (-45, 7%)). There was also an increase: air conditioning equipment (+ 45.9%), heaters and electric heaters and heaters (+ 41.1%) and fans (+ 20.6%).

Chernajovsky, accompanied by President and Chief Executive Officer Luis Galli, estimated that his company's sales showed a fall of between 40% and 45% on average in September-October for all products sold by the company. Already in IDEA last October, BGH had warned of low, virtually identical percentages. "Today, the most complex problem is the interest rate," said Marcelo Girotti, CEO of BGH, who had warned about the weakness of the payment chain, especially in SMEs. . Girotti also pointed out that many televisions that were going to be sold at the World Cup were kept in factories. Yesterday, in this company, they avoided answering
THE NATION.

Whether for Girotti (as stated by IDEA) or for Chernajovsky, despite the discouraging present, there are opportunities for improvement for the coming year as long as certain conditions are met both cyclical and structural. Among the first, according to Galli, are the stabilization of the currencies, the fall in interest rates, the rise in real wages and the improvement of consumer expectations. "We are suffering the consequences of antibiotics," said Chernajovsky, explaining how monetary astringency and budget constraints helped to stabilize the exchange rate and curb inflation, while worsening the recession.

"Are local producers competitive if the country opens the trade?", They asked. "With what labor legislation? With what rate of interest?", Said the founder of Newsan, who recalled the competitiveness agreement signed on November 13 with the unions and the government. Chernajovsky added that to add new investments it needed predictability, he asked the government for an extension of the tax that prevails in Tierra del Fuego and will expire in 2023. "We need 10 to 20 years for make new investments, "he said.

Galli confirmed that the Argentine electronic prices "are the most competitive in the region", not because of the devaluation, but because of the improvement of competitiveness (the agreement on the island provides, among other things, for the freezing of workers' wages for two years).

"We need long-term state policies and stable rules of the game," said Chernajovsky, stating: "I see a country with an industry and I think Mauricio Macri too, we need to decide on an industrial policy , sector by sector. "

Another confirmed sector source
THE NATION In the second half, sales fell 40% over the previous year due to "the impact of the devaluation, very high interest rates and the lack of quota plans available to the consumer ".

"To achieve reactivation, in addition to an improvement in macroeconomic conditions, the support of all actors is important: trade unions, government, financial system and businesses in general", they said in a dominant market chain and closed with favorable prospects. for 2019. As expected, a "recovery" in sales is likely from May.