Air Liquide Registered a Record Number of Signatures for New Gas Production Units in 2023

In 2023, Air Liquide set a new record by signing 62 new small gas production units directly installed on its customers' sites in the industrial merchant and electronics sectors in 2023. This growth reflects the increased demand for these solutions, and illustrates our capacity to meet customers' needs. They offer real advantages: a continuous, reliable supply of gas, adapted to each client's production needs and helping to reduce carbon emissions.

In the industrial merchant sector, these small on-site gas production units are highly appreciated by customers, particularly in the metallurgy, chemical and automotive industries, for their competitiveness and reliability in supplying the small molecules essential to their activities, such as nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen.

The increase in the number of new small on-site gas production units signed is also driven by structural growth in the electronics market, with strong trends around AI, digitalization and the Internet of Things. Among its solutions for this industry, Air Liquide supplies its customers with ultra-pure gases such as ultra-pure nitrogen. They are indispensable to electronics manufacturers: they create the inert atmosphere needed to produce semiconductors, photovoltaic cells and printed circuit boards, which consist of very thin layers and are extremely sensitive to the ambient environment.

Based on proprietary technologies developed by the Group, the small on-site gas production units are installed, operated and maintained directly on customer sites. They eliminate the need to liquefy gases for their transportation, and reduce the number of trucks and mileage needed to deliver to customers. This generates energy savings and reduces CO2 emissions. These small on-site gas production units are based on contracts typically signed for 10 to 15 years, contributing to the stability of industrial merchant and electronics sales over the long term.

The number of new small on-site gas production units signed by Air Liquide for on-site gas production in the industrial merchant and electronics sectors is increasing steadily, contributing to the objectives of the Group's ADVANCE plan.