Reporting on the business and technologies
driving today's global industrial gas industry

The Asia Market
Where the Action is for our Industry's Major Players
By Maura D. Garvey
2007.06
Maura Garvey, our Director of Market Research, updates readers on the Asian industrial gases market. The latest developments, where it’s happening and who its major players are all laid out. The large, basic infrastructure developments and modernization in developing countries in Asia, in particular China, have fueled demand for a broad spectrum of industrial gases and their related technologies, equipment and services. In addition to growth in basic manufacturing like steel and chemicals, Asia has become the focal point for growth in the electronics market, an important driver of this region’s overall economic growth.

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Rare Gases
A Fast Growing Global Commodity
By Richard Betzendahl
2007.06
The three rare gases krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe) and neon (Ne), are a fairly recent discovery, found as part of a remaining substance after distilling liquid air, and are quickly realizing their value today in the industrial world. Richard Betzendahl, one of our contributing writers, explains the production process for these rare gases and the total world production as well as their most significant applications along with their benefits.

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The 2006 Semiconductor Market Update
Consumer Electronics Continue to Drive Forecasts
2007.06
Following the same trend as in past years reported on, consumer electronics continue to shrink in size but expand in power by using increasingly more complex chips. This, and the continued growth of flat panel displays (FPDs), is driving the market for electronics gases, which are used in semiconductor manufacturing processes. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), sales of personal computers, digital cameras, digital televisions, cell phones, and hand-held consumer electronic devices are all up and many of these items require FPDs. The SIA reports that the global semiconductor report for 2006 reached a record $24.7 billion. The Asia-Pacific region, specifically China, has experienced the strongest growth.

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Looking Inside Distributors
By Paul Matlock
2007.06
TAP Resources, a network of compressed Gas Industry ‘veterans,’ is focused on providing operations performance improvement services to the US industrial, medical, and specialty gases industry. TAP’s focus on the compressed gas business has brought it into close contact with a few distributors and a great deal of discussion with many. In this article, TAP principle Paul Matlock, shares his reflections on the differences and the similarities between operations and management in large industrial gas companies and those common to the relatively smaller, regional distributors.

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Genstar Technologies
An Industrial Gas Industry Leader with a Strategic Position in China
By George Horrigan
2007.06
This month’s feature article is a profile on industry leader, Genstar Technologies done by our own George Horrigan. Under strong pressure to expand into larger markets and reduce costs, a growing number of global companies that produce electronic products and components, like integrated circuits are joining the worldwide trend and moving their manufacturing bases to China. For Genstar, the big attraction is the enormous market for products needed by the rapidly expanding semiconductor and electronics manufacturing base that is developing in China and other parts of Asia. The demand for an increasingly wider variety of electronic related products, including electric appliances, television sets, cellular phones, calculators, and more, continues to soar. Genstar, a southern California-based company was one of the first to recognize the importance of the Asian market and has since 1994 when the decision was made to build its first manufacturing facility in China. Ever since, Genstar has quickly increased its market share and position in the industrial gas components, parts, and systems in Asia.

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