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Air Liquide to Supply High Purity Gas to China Technology Company July 27, 2010 – Air Liquide has just signed a long-term contract with Nanjing CEC Panda LCD Technology Corporation (CEC Panda, a subsidiary of China Electronics Corporation (CEC), the largest state-owned electronics and IT company,) for its new six-generation Flat Panel Display (FPD) fab in the new Nanjing Crystal Valley, the capital city of Jiangsu Province. This fab will be one of the most advanced six-generation FPD fabs in China, with a total investment of 13.8 billion Rmb (EUR 1.5 billion).
Different high purity gases are used to manufacture Thin Film Transistors – Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LDC) at the heart of the FDP technology. Gases are used at all stages of the flat panel manufacturing process.
Under the terms of the agreement, Air Liquide will supply to CEC Panda a turnkey solution including ultra high purity carrier gases (nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, argon, and helium), as well as turnkey specialty Gas Equipment & Installation and related on-site gas management Services.
Air Liquide will invest in a new nitrogen production facility, designed and built by Air Liquide Engineering & Construction, to produce above 230 tonnes per day, using the latest technologies in terms of energy efficiency, safety, and reliability. The start-up is scheduled for July 2011.View more Full story: www.airliquide.com Air Products Signs Industrial Gas Supply Contract with Samsung Austin July 22, 2010 – Air Products has been awarded two major contracts in support of Samsung Austin Semiconductor’s expansion of its 300 mm semiconductor manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas.
As part of the expansion, Air Products will double its existing capacity of on-site, high purity oxygen and nitrogen. In addition to bulk gas supply, Air Products will also provide a significant amount of specialty gas and chemical delivery equipment for the expansion.
The new fab expansion will produce “systems on a chip” (SoC) that will provide processing as well as peripheral functions such as memory and microcontrollers. These low-power, multi-functional SoC are crucial for next-generation mobile devices such as cell phones, tablet computers and other devices.
“Air Products is pleased to be selected to supply Samsung’s Austin expansion,” said Corning Painter, Vice President and General Manager of Electronics for Air Products. “Our breadth of products and services for the global electronics industry continues to make us the supplier of choice for semiconductor, display, and photovoltaic manufacturers.”View more Full story: www.airproducts.com Airgas Board Rejects Revised Air Products Offer July 21, 2010 – Airgas, Inc. today announced that its Board of Directors, after careful consideration with its independent financial and legal advisors, voted unanimously to reject the revised unsolicited tender offer from Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. to acquire all outstanding common shares of Airgas at a price of $63.50 per share in cash. The Board unanimously recommends that Airgas stockholders not tender their shares into Air Products' offer.View more Full story: www.airgas.com, www.airproducts.com Air Products to Supply Industrial Gases to POSCO in India July 19, 2010 – Air Products announced that INOX Air Products Ltd., its joint venture in India, has signed a long-term contract with POSCO Maharashtra Steel Private Limited (PMSPL) to supply on-site nitrogen and hydrogen gases to its new facility located in Vile Bhagad, Maharashtra, Western India. PMSPL is a subsidiary of POSCO, the world’s fourth largest steel producer by output, and the site will be POSCO’s second steel galvanizing project outside of Korea and the first investment for production in India.
INOX Air Products will build and operate a high purity nitrogen plant and a steam methane reformer (SMR) hydrogen plant designed to meet the specific requirements of PMSPL’s facility in Maharashtra. Both the nitrogen plant and the SMR are product offerings from Air Products’ PRISM® gas generation portfolio. The plants are expected to come on-stream in late 2011.
“The Maharashtra steel galvanizing facility is a major investment for POSCO in India, and we need a reliable and flexible gas supplier to support us,” said Mr. Jae Bong Kim, General Manager of PMSPL. POSCO is already an Air Products customer at its home base in Korea.
The India plant, once completed, will be POSCO’s second facility to produce both hot-dip galvanized and galvanealed sheets outside of Korea. Galvanized steel is used in many outdoor, marine and industrial applications due to its resistance to corrosion. The automobile industry is the primary target market for PMSPL in India. View more Full story: www.airproducts.com, www.inoxairproducts.com Praxair Signs Contract with Osage Bio Energy July 13, 2010 – Praxair, Inc. has signed a 15-year contract with Osage Bio Products, an affiliate of Osage Bio Energy, to purchase carbon dioxide produced from Osage’s barley-to-ethanol bio-processing operations in Hopewell, VA. Carbon dioxide is a by-product of ethanol fermentation.
The carbon dioxide will be purified and liquefied to produce up to 450 tons per day from Praxair’s new plant, scheduled for start up in the fourth quarter of 2011. The carbon dioxide will be used primarily in food freezing and processing, and for beverage applications.
“Our intention is to build a world-class facility at the Osage Bio Energy plant in Hopewell, which will help us better serve our growing customer base in the East Region,” said Ted Trumpp, Vice President, East Region, for Praxair’s North American Industrial Gases business unit.
“Biogenic carbon dioxide from our fermentation process is a wonderful source for food grade applications,” said Craig Shealy, President and CEO of Osage Bio Energy. “Praxair is a top-tier industrial gas company, and we are excited to work with them to co-locate a plant on our site.”
Osage Bio Energy’s first plant, Appomattox Bio Energy, also located in Hopewell, is targeted to start up in August 2010. When complete, it will be the first commercial scale barley-to-ethanol processing plant in the United States, producing 65 million gallons of ethanol per year.
View more Full story: www.praxair.com, www.osagebioenergy.com Air Products to Build 1.5MW Solar Farm at US Headquarters July 12, 2010 – Air Products will build a 12-acre solar farm at its corporate headquarters in Allentown, PA, capable of generating 1.5 MW of electricity that would otherwise be purchased off the grid. The 1.5MW is enough to serve the energy needs of nearly half of Air Products’ administration buildings. The project is expected to begin construction this fall and be on-stream in the spring of 2011.
Air Products has been supplying critical gases and materials to photovoltaic (PV) manufacturers who make solar panels for many years as part of its leadership in the electronics industry and, more recently, has been focusing on reducing PV manufacturing costs with its broad SunSource™ Solutions offerings.
John McGlade, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Air Products noted, “Our employees are looking forward to putting our SunSource Solutions for photovoltaics to work thereby reducing our carbon footprint and generating sustainable, clean energy to power a portion of our campus.” By reducing its use of purchased electricity Air Products will lower its carbon dioxide (CO2) footprint by more than 1,000 tons per year.View more Full story: www.airproducts.com Air Products Raises Tender Offer, Airgas to Review, Respond July 9, 2010 – Air Products announced on July 8 that it increased its fully financed offer to purchase all of the outstanding shares of Airgas, Inc. to $63.50 per share in cash, an increase of $3.50 per share over its initial offer of $60.00 per share and a premium of 46 percent over the closing price of Airgas’ shares on February 4, 2010, the day before Air Products announced its proposal to acquire Airgas. At $63.50 per share, the acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to Air Products’ earnings per share on both a GAAP and cash basis, excluding one-time costs.
Airgas, Inc. in return noted Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.'s revised tender offer. Consistent with its fiduciary duties and as required by applicable law, the Airgas Board of Directors will review the revised tender offer to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders. Airgas stockholders are advised to take no action at this time pending the review of the revised offer by the Airgas Board of Directors. The Airgas Board of Directors has previously considered and rejected prior proposals from Air Products of $62 and $60 per share. View more Full story: www.airgas.com, www.airproducts.com Air Liquide Acquires Hydrogen Unit in Korea July 8, 2010 – Air Liquide Korea has completed the acquisition of H-Plus SGS, Ltd., a privately held supplier of piped carbon monoxide and hydrogen in Yeosu, South Korea, with a total capacity of 60,000m3 per hour of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Air Liquide Korea has obtained the required regulatory approvals for this deal.
Air Liquide Korea already operates two units in Yeosu providing hydrogen and carbon monoxide to the petrochemical industry. This acquisition, by adding a third unit, will allow Air Liquide Korea to better serve its existing customers and to meet the growing demand in this basin.
South Korea’s economy has grown into one of the world’s most advanced economies (and its eighth largest exporter). This manufacturing success is boosting demand for industrial gases in a wide range of sectors such as steel, chemicals, automobile, consumer electronics, and high technologies. Air Liquide is a major player in the Korean market for industrial and medical gases.
Jean-Marc de Royere, Senior Vice President Asia-Pacific and a member of Executive Committee of the Air Liquide Group, declared, “With this new unit, our Korean operation will immediately grow more than 30 percent and we are significantly increasing our commitment to Korea.” Air Liquide began offering carbon monoxide and hydrogen to large industries in the country 15 years ago.View more Full story: www.airliquide.com Matheson to Build Helium Facility July 6, 2010 – Matheson has announced plans to build a new helium transfill facility in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. This will be Matheson’s sixth helium transfill in the US and parent company Taiyo Nippon Sanso’s (TNSC) seventeenth transfill worldwide. The Greensburg facility, which is expected to be fully operational by December 2010, will be capable of filling high-pressure cylinders, tube trailers, and liquid helium dewars for delivery to end user customers and distributors located throughout a market area that includes Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and New Jersey.
Howard Hubert, Senior Vice President, Matheson Packaged Gas Division, stated, “The Greensburg helium transfill will strengthen Matheson’s competitive position within one of our core market areas, by reducing our cost and eliminating our dependence on competitors for our helium supply.”
According to John Bigham, Director Product Management and Global Logistics, Matheson Global Helium, “The Greensburg site was selected due to its central proximity to existing and potential Matheson helium customers. Investment in the Greensburg transfill is consistent with Matheson’s strategy to upgrade our helium supply capability within the company’s expanding US footprint.”
Matheson manages the global helium business of TNSC under the name Matheson Global Helium. TNSC is the leading helium supplier in Japan and is one of only six industrial gas companies in the world who have direct access to sources of helium. Matheson has contractually guaranteed access to three helium sources and will gain access to a fourth source at the end of 2011, when the Riley Ridge helium source is expected to commence production from a new plant that will be located in Big Piney, WY. The Big Piney Plant will be owned and operated by APMTG LLC, a joint venture between Matheson Tri-Gas and Air Products and Chemicals.View more Full story: www.mathesongas.com MATHESON Is Official Brand Name July 1, 2010 – Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. has announced that the Company is changing its brand name to “MATHESON” effective immediately. The legal name of the Company will remain Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc., and because of this, nothing needs to be changed with regard to accounts payable procedures. The new website is www.mathesongas.com.
The Company was founded in 1927 in North Bergen, NJ by Adam Matheson. The name of the Company was originally Matheson Gas Products. Today, MATHESON is the largest single subsidiary of Taiyo Nippon Sanso, the fifth largest industrial gas supplier in the world.
“Operating under the name Matheson Tri-Gas made sense for us in the 90s and early 2000s,” said Bill Kroll, Matheson’s Chairman. “At that time, we were the combination of two companies, one named Matheson and the other named Tri-Gas. In the six years since 2004, we have added seven more companies to our proud family. Going forward, knowing the family as simply ‘MATHESON’ makes sense.”
“Each acquisition has been strategic.” Kroll said. He went on to note that acquisitions such as Linwell and Valley national Gases were “blockbuster acquisitions—not just because of their size, but also because of their depth of excellence, particularly in welding and propane.” He also recognized ETOX, FiveStar, Polar, Aeris, and AGT as adding unique dimensions to the Company. MATHESON will continue to refer to the legacy names of the larger acquisitions. In some parts of the country, signs and truck labels will say MATHESON VALLEY or MATHESON LINWELD. By doing this MATHESON will pay tribute to the longstanding customer relationships and name recognition that goes with them.
In 2004, Matheson Tri-Gas had operations in 21 states, with industrial retail operations in only six; in 2010, MATHESON has operations in 40 states, including retail operations in 33 of them. MATHESON also has overseas operations in six countries.
“It’s time,” Kroll pointed out, “that we are known under one brand name, with one set of employees, one product line, one mission, and one identity. That brand name is MATHESON.”View more Full story: www.mathesongas.com Airgas Receives 2010 Premier Supplier Performance Award June 30, 2010 – Airgas, Inc. has received the 2010 Premier Supplier Award presented by the Premier health alliance. Based in Charlotte, NC, Premier is a healthcare performance improvement alliance that operates a leading healthcare purchasing network and serves more than 2,300 US hospitals and 66,000 other healthcare sites.
Airgas is one of 65 contracted suppliers, out of the 800 that Premier contracts with, to receive this award. Award recipients are recognized for outstanding management of Premier agreements and working with Premier to provide clinical and financial value to the not-for-profit hospital members of the Premier alliance.
“We are very honored to be recognized by Premier for this prestigious award,” said Airgas Senior Vice President Kelly Justice. “We accept this on behalf of all Airgas associates who every day deliver on our promise to provide Premier members with bulk and cylinder gases, help streamline their supply chain, and improve cost efficiencies.”
Airgas serves Premier members through the Airgas market-focused Strategic Accounts program, which was established to provide sole-source supply and supply chain management services for customers with multiple locations nationwide.View more Full story: www.airgas.com American Welding Society to Manage Affairs for GAWDA June 28, 2010 – The American Welding Society (AWS) and the Gases and Welding Distributors Association (GAWDA) jointly announced that AWS has been chosen to manage the daily business operations of GAWDA, a national trade association representing distributors and manufacturers of industrial gases and related welding equipment and supplies.
“AWS and GAWDA serve and are committed to the same industry, and we believe this partnership will establish an even stronger relationship with welding distributors, manufacturers, and end users,” said Jenny McCall, GAWDA President.
“We are honored to have been chosen by GAWDA to manage their daily business affairs,” said John Bruskotter, AWS President. “With AWS and GAWDA working together, members of both associations will be able to greatly benefit in a number of ways, including welder workforce development, access to more networking, and access to on-site training and certifications.”
GAWDA Business Manager Natasha Alexis can be reached at (877) 382-6440. The new association mailing address is: Gases and Welding Distributors Association, 550 NW LeJeune Rd., Miami, FL 33126.View more Full story: www.aws.org, www.gawda.org nexAir Adds First State-of-the-Art Hydrogen Plant to Memphis Area June 28, 2010 – Memphis-based atmospheric gases and welding supplies distributor nexAir has added a state-of-the-art hydrogen filling plant to its production plant and distribution facility located at 1211 N. McLean Boulevard in Memphis.
The new hydrogen plant, which is completely computer-operated and outfitted with the latest safety and quality controls, was completed in April 2010. The customized plant is the only hydrogen distribution point within a 250-mile radius of the Memphis area.
“Prior to the addition of the hydrogen plant, nexAir was relying on a filling plant more than 300 miles away for its supply, which really limited our ability to serve customers and outside suppliers,” said Chuck Britton, Vice President of Plant Operations for nexAir. “Our new hydrogen filling plant already has reduced our freight costs by cutting travel across the state and will allow us to grow our business to include more suppliers and distributors.”
nexAir’s hydrogen filling tank system was custom-designed by Troy Goode, McLean plant engineer, in conjunction with Weldcoa, based in Aurora, Ill. Long-time nexAir partner Praxair will supply liquid hydrogen for distribution.View more Full story: www.nexAir.com |
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