AIR LIQUIDE AND AIR PRODUCTS CONTINUE EXPANSION IN EASTERN CHINA
Air Liquide’s subsidiary Air Liquide Shanghai, and Air Products and chemicals, Inc. (NYSE: APD) subsidiary, Air Products and Chemicals (China) Investment Co., Ltd. have signed an agreement to form a 50/50 joint venture to be named Wuxi- Hi-Tech gases Company, Ltd. The company will be based in Wuxi, a new and very dynamic industrial region about 250 kilometers from Shanghai. An air separation unit with a daily capacity of 430 metric tons of liquid oxygen, nitrogen and argon is to be built, with start-up scheduled for late 2002.
The design and construction of the turnkey plant were entrusted to Air Liquide’s engineering subsidiary, Hang Yang Air Liquide. When informed of this decision, Hang Yang Air Liquide’s president, Jean Marc Belot, said: "All 160 of our employees are very proud to have been selected. We are going to give this new company’s plant the very best technology we have. "
Concerning the joint venture, Wilbur Mok, general manager of Air Products China said, "Air Products has successfully utilized the joint venture concept elsewhere in Asia in achieving the most cost-effective supply position for our customers. We are pleased to be able to serve the needs of industry in this rapidly growing region through this venture."
François Legroux, president of Air Liquide Shanghai, made the following comment:"This new air separation unit will enable Air Liquide to better serve its customers in this part of China, and particularly electronics manufacturers in the Wuxi industrial park."
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