Hwasung Thermo Co. Ltd., established in 1977 as Korea’s first truck refrigeration system maker, is devoted to the technical innovation of refrigeration for truck transportation. Mr. Shatrughan Kumar, Managing Director, Trans ACNR (India Office of Hwasung Thermo), New Delhi, talks about developments at his company and in the segment.
Excerpts:
Tell us about your business operations, customer tech support, etc.
Hwasung Thermo is largest manufacturer of Truck refrigerator in Asia with annual production capacity of 25000 units. We started importing and distribution in 2003. With current Indian market size, the investment to set up manufacturing does not justify. Moreover currently there is nil custom duty on truck refrigerator. Hwasung Thermo offers complete range of Refrigerator for primary and secondary distribution. TRANS ACNR’s country wide service network and readily available spare parts at affordable prices makes good buying sense while opting for Hwasung Thermo reefer units.
How has the reefer market evolved over the year in India?
The Truck refrigerator penetration is still at very nascent stage. There has been lot of talks on potential of cold chain in India but on ground nothing much has been done. Our role has been crucial in regulating and rationalising the cost of Truck Refrigerator in India which is critical for the growth of the market. It is important to make the Cold Chain Projects commercially viable, making it a necessity for all perishable comodities rather than being used only for premium products.
You say refrigeration unit forms the heart of the reefer – please elaborate.
Truck refrigerator is designed to maintain the pre-cooled cargo inside an insulated container having a thermal conductivity equal to or less 0.3 watt/m2 deg C. It is always a good investment in buying quality insulated container having fluted channels which enhances air-circulation. The best way of marking a quality container is to measure the retention temperature once the reefer unit has been shut down. A temperature rise of 8 to 10 deg C in an hour for an empty load container from deep freeze temperatures ( -) 25 deg C. at ambients of 38 deg C is well within the acceptable range. Hwasung Thermo has in-house manufacturing facility for almost all components. Not only does our warranty come with standard one year warranty, they also stand the back up of pan India 5 years warranty, including spares, labor as well as consumables, should any of our customer desire such.
What is the market size of reefer and what is its percentage in the total market?
The reefer market size is 2000 to 2500 units per annum, which means hardly 1.5% of total truck population is refrigerated. It can grow up to 10% in the next five to seven years.