Messer consolidates its position in China

26-04-2012: In March, the privately managed industrial gases specialist, Messer, put three new air separation units into operation in the western Chinese province of Sichuan. The total investment comes to approximately 80 million euros. Two of the three new facilities will each produce around 30,000 normal cubic metres of air gases such as argon, oxygen and nitrogen per hour, and will supply the new steel plant operated by Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group (PG) in Xichang. The third facility has a capacity of 40,000 normal cubic metres per hour. This will meet PG’s growing demand in Panzhihua. The new facilities will also enable Messer to supply regional customers more quickly and reliably.

“The opening of the new facilities not only strengthens our relationship with Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group, our long-standing Chinese partner, but also consolidates Messer’s leading position in the regional market,” explains Stefan Messer, owner and CEO of Messer Group. Given the dynamic economic growth in western China, Messer’s assessment of the future development of its business in the region is also positive. In addition to the newly opened facilities, Messer is planning further investment in western China over the next two years.

Various other Messer projects in China are currently in the construction phase: in Chengdu, an air separation unit with a capacity of 528 tonnes a day will go into operation at the end of the year. This will allow Messer to guarantee a better supply to its existing customers as well as the rapidly growing electronics industry.

In Chongqing, the start-up of an air separation unit for 10,000 normal cubic metres of air gases per hour and a liquefier for 300 tonnes of liquefied gases per day is planned for the coming year. The facilities are being built in the economic and technological development zone of the municipal district of Changshou and will supply the leading chemical manufacturers based there with industrial gases.

In Yunnan province, an air separation unit for 18,000 normal cubic metres per hour is currently under construction. It will supply Kunming Iron and Steel Group’s plant in Yuxi with gases. In Haikou, the construction of an air separation unit for 300 tonnes per day will begin shortly. Both projects are due to be completed in the next 18 months.

Messer has been investing in China since 1994 and presently operates 13 companies nationwide, with a total investment of nearly 550 million euros and 1,850 employees.