China: Strong Development in Tianjin

Located 120 kilometers southeast of Beijing and with more than 10 million people, Tianjin is one of the most dynamic cities in China. It has a very long commercial and industrial history thanks to its ideal location close to Beijing on the Bohai Bay. It is becoming the third national economic development center, after Guangdong and Shanghai.

Air Liquide announces the start-up of a long term supply of industrial gases to Sinopec Tianjin Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (TPCC), in Tianjin. Air Liquide created a 50/50 joint venture company earlier this year with TPCC in Dagang Tianjin (Air Liquide TPCC), which has just taken over the Air Separation Units (ASU) as well as the associated teams of the existing TPCC facility. It is also building a new 1,000 tonnes/day ASU necessary for the new TPCC refinery and ethylene cracker. The total investment of the joint venture is about €45 million. The new ASU unit is being manufactured by Air Liquide Hangzhou, the Air Liquide engineering centre in China, providing both high reliability and high energy efficiency, in line with Chinese government objectives.

Air Liquide has been steadily developing the Tianjin market. The Group was first present in Tianjin in 1995 with an ASU and two hydrogen units. In April 2007, Air Liquide commissioned another new unit in Tianjin located in Tianjin Binhai New Development District, supplying LG Bohai Chemical Co., Ltd. Its joint venture with Tianjin Soda, Air Liquide Yongli, is currently investing in two new ASUs of 2,000 tonnes/day each to supply oxygen and nitrogen to Tianjin Soda in the same District. The units will start beginning of 2009. Total investment decisions of Air Liquide in Tianjin have already reached more than €200 million and are expected to increase further.

Jean-Pierre Duprieu, Senior Vice-President in charge of Asia Pacific and member of Air Liquide’s Executive Committee, said: “We are very pleased to start this new operation in Tianjin with TPCC, which has decided to outsource its industrial gas needs. It opens new possibilities for Air Liquide to cooperate further with Sinopec. We have now reached a very significant presence in Tianjin and we are continually strengthening it in this fast growing market. Air Liquide will continue to accelerate its investments in China with at least €300 million per year 2007-2011, three times more per year than during the 2004-2006 period.”
Mr. Xu Hongxing, Chairman of TPCC, said: “It is the first joint venture for TPCC and it constitutes a milestone in the cooperation between Sinopec and Air Liquide. We believe that it is a good initiative to outsource our industrial gases to a specialist. We see a bright future for our partnership.”

A World First in Steel Production to Preserve the Environment

Today, growing steel production, usually based on carbon, generates important quantities of CO2 worldwide. Concerned by the environment, the leading world steel producers are participating in research programs aimed at reducing CO2 emissions by 50% by the year 2050.

In Lulea, in Sweden, Air Liquide has just realized a world first, on the MEFOS site (Metallurgical Research Institute). The Group has developed, built and tested a pilot plant enabling the CO2 to be separated from blast furnace gases, while at the same time recovering residual gases.

This work is being carried out within the context of the European ULCOS project (Ultra Low CO2 Steelmaking), coordinated by ArcelorMittal and involving leading European steel producers. Air Liquide is actively involved in this project. Air Liquide technology, combined with a recycling blast furnace, contributes to reduce the carbon’s consumption and hence the resulting CO2 emissions, and also, to obtain the needed pure CO2 to be stored underground. These tests have demonstrated the feasibility of the process and confirmed the improved energy efficiency of the blast furnace. The second phase of ULCOS will include an industrial-scale demonstration from 2010.

Commented Francois Darchis, member of Air Liquide’s Executive Committee, Senior Vice President in charge of R&D, Advanced Technologies and Engineering: "Air Liquide is constantly innovating to enable its customers to improve the efficiency of their processes and reduce their polluting emissions. Today, the Group spends 60% of its Research and Development budget on projects contributing to preserving life and the environment. Tomorrow, half of the Group's growth will come from applications linked to the environment".

Air Liquide Electronics Announces Price Increases for Silane

Silane Price Increase

Mr. Benoit Potier Met with Governor of Hubei Province

On Feb. 28, 2008, Mr. Benoit Potier, Chairman and CEO of Air Liquide Group, visited Mr. Li Hongzhong, Governor of Hubei Province in Donghu Hotel. The two sides exchanged views on Air Liquide’s investment in Wuhan in a friendly atmosphere.  

Mr. Li Hongzhong expressed his warm welcome to Mr. Potier and the Air Liquide delegation. At the meeting he also gave the guests a brief introduction to the economic and social conditions of Hubei Province. Governor Li Hongzhong said that Hubei Province was going through a special historical period of promoting rise of central China, which meant grasping opportunities and developing with high speed. Making investment in Wuhan at this point, Air Liquide had made a wise decision in its strategic layout and also got a rare and excellent opportunity. Considering the industrial structure, high-tech industries will have a dominant position and will be the pillar industries of Hubei Province to achieve its further growth. Hubei Province will provide Air Liquide with a broad stage for its business development in high-tech sectors. In the development of the “Two-oriented Society”, Wuhan Urban Cluster will focus more on high-tech industries, such as environmental friendly automobiles, environmental friendly transportation and the like. “The goals of Air Liquide’s endeavors in the region get along with the needs of Hubei Province and we wish Air Liquide a greater success in its business development in Hubei Province.”  

Mr. Potier said that there were five factors which Air Liquide would consider about for making strategic investment: energy, environment, high technologies, medical care and the emerging markets with rapid economic growth. As a place with all these five factors, Wuhan will be a city with which Air Liquide can have a win -win cooperation.  “In the up-coming five to ten years, Air Liquide will invest in China 300 million to 500 million Euros each year. It’s our belief that Air Liquide will have more projects to be located in Hubei Province in the future.”   Air Liquide is listed as one of the “World Top 500” and is the leader in industrial and medical gases and related services. In the year of 2007, Air Liquide invested 80 million RMB in Wuhan East Lake High-tech Development Zone to build a plant in order to supply industrial gases and services to local customers.   Mr. Tian Chengzhong, Vice Governor of Hubei Province and Mr. Michel Freymuth, Consulate General of France in Wuhan were both presenting at the meeting.

Mr. Benoit Potier Met with GM of Chem China

On Feb. 26, 2008, Mr. Benoit Potier, the Chairman and CEO of Air Liquide Group, and Mr. Jean-Pierre Duprieu, Senior Vice President in charge of Asia Pacific Zone and member of Air Liquide Group Executive Committee, visited Mr. Ren Jianxing, the GM of Chem China in Beijing. After exchanging the business developments of each other, they agreed that Chem China and Air Liquide have a wide cooperation potential and both parties should improve the communications between each other and promote the cooperation in more fields.

November 15, 2007 - Air Liquide is a technological partner at the Challenge Bibendum held in Shanghai.

This year once again, Air Liquide is a technological partner at the Challenge Bibendum organised by Michelin, held in Shanghai November 2007. Dedicated to clean mobility, the Challenge will be the occasion to showcase innovations for trucks, buses, cars and urban 2-wheelers, including ecological vehicles powered by hydrogen.  

This technological partnership covers the installation of two hydrogen service stations, designed and developed by Air Liquide, which will supply vehicles with hydrogen in Shanghai Automobile Exhibition Center (SAEC) in Anting, from 13th to 16th November, and in Pudong on 17^th.  

Based on a fast-track system for delivering high pressure hydrogen (700 bar and 350 bar) Air Liquide’s hydrogen stations allow drivers to "fill up" in 3 minutes, under conditions of use that are as close as possible to those encountered with a traditional fuel, giving a range of several hundred kilometres.  

During the last 4 years: Air Liquide has built several hydrogen service station, in Madrid (bus fleet), Kawasaki, Luxembourg, Shanghai with a mobile station for the Michelin Challenge Bibendum, Singapore, one for a European automobile manufacturer, another for General Motors in the United States. The Group has also a permanent demonstration station in Sassenage (France).  

Hydrogen represents a fabulous potential source of renewable energy. Using hydrogen as a vector of energy is a promising alternative solution, both in environmental terms and from an economic point of view. Used in a fuel cell, hydrogen combines with oxygen in the air to produce electricity, with water as the only emission. Hydrogen can be extracted from numerous raw materials (natural gas, coal, water + electricity or even biomass, etc.). Although 95% of hydrogen is presently produced from natural gas, the multiplicity of production sources guarantees a secure supply.  

As the world leader in industrial and medical gases and related services, Air Liquide started to be present in China in early 20th century, and return in the seventies by supplying air separation plants. In 1990, Air Liquide set up gas operations in Shanghai. Today, operations are mainly located in Northern and Eastern China and expanding in Western and Southern China. Air Liquide China has more than 1600 employees, and sales is more than RMB 2.3 billion Yuan. Gas and services has increased by more than 40% annually in the past years.  

Air Liquide is committed to the sustainable development of the Chinese market and is  serving the fast growing economy of China with its innovative technologies, products and services. Air Liquide is the leasder in growth in China with an annual investment of 1 billion Rmb per year 2004-2006 and more planned in the next years.