Long-term gas contracts for Air Liquide up in 2020; environmental benefits drive growth
Following a record year in 2019, during, which the Group signed 40 new long-term On-Site contracts, Air Liquide has signed 11 new agreements in the first quarter of 2020 for its Industrial Merchant customers.
These long-term On-Site deals between Air Liquide and its large Industrial Merchant customers are established to supply nitrogen, oxygen or hydrogen for a minimum of 10 years. On-site gas production units are installed, operated and maintained directly at customer sites to provide customers local and reliable supply.
On-Site supply solutions also reduce air pollution and CO2 emissions by eliminating most of the energy consumed to liquefy and transport industrial gas, and saving about half of the carbon footprint compared to bulk liquid and contributes to Air Liquide’s Climate objectives.
These last 5 years, the number of new long-term contracts related to Air Liquide On-Site installations has steadily increased. Recent growth has been particularly driven by China and the US through the company’s US-based subsidiary Airgas. In the first quarter of 2020, the 40th on-site contract in the US since the acquisition of Airgas in 2016 was signed.
Matthieu Giard, Vice President and executive committee member of Air Liquide Group, supervising the Industrial Merchant business activity says that the growth of the on-site installations is driven by their competitiveness and environmental benefits.