Germany's Messer Group Completes 160 Million Euros of Investment in Industrial Gas Production

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Messer Group GmbH (Sulzbach, Germany), a leading supplier of industrial gases such as nitrogen, oxygen and helium, has invested more than 160 million euros ($237.6 million) to date in gas production facilities in Western European countries such as France, Italy, Spain and Germany.

Overall, the company plans to invest a total of 700 million euros ($1 billion) in Western Europe and Asia through 2010, as it strives to expand its production and supply network for industrial gases.

In Germany, Messer has already invested 80 million euros ($119 million) in two projects, one located at the steel factory of Deutsche Edelstahlwerke GmbH (Witten, Germany) in Siegen, where a second air separation unit (ASU) is planned to supplement a similar unit that began operations in September this year. The unit is designed to expand the delivery area for gases that are transport-sensitive in the northern and eastern parts of the country. The second German project is on the site of steelmaker Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH, a member of Salzgitter Group AG (ETR:SZG) (Salzgitter, Germany). This facility is scheduled to begin producing gases for the region by the end of summer 2010.

In neighboring France, Messer has formed a joint venture with Linde AG (ETR:LIN) (Munich, Germany) to construct an ASU with a total investment of more than 23 million euros ($34 million). The unit, located at St. Herblain near Nantes in Brittany, is scheduled to begin production in December this year, with a key market being the supply of high-quality nitrogen and oxygen to the local food products industry.

Messer opened the first facility for production of gases in Switzerland in July 2009 at a cost of about 20 million euros ($29.7 million). The facility, producing medical oxygen and other industrial gases, is located on the grounds of Lonza Group AG (VTX:LONN) (Basel, Switzerland), a leader in the chemical and biotechnical sectors. Part of the production from the ASU, which is operated by Lonza, will be liquefied and transported by rail to Italy to meet the demands of Italian customers.

In another joint venture, Messer has partnered with Belgian company Ijsfabriek Strombeek (Meise) to construct a carbon-dioxide liquefaction facility at the factory of INEOS Oxide Limited (Lyndhurst, England), just outside Antwerp, Belgium. Messer holds a 70% share in the joint venture, which will produce 150,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year when it begins production in the first quarter of next year. Two-thirds of this production will be used by Messer to support customers in the food, beverages and manufacturing industries. Messer has already invested 15 million euros in the joint venture.

In Spain, the rising demand for bottled gases along the eastern coast, Andalusia and the interior prompted Messer to open a new bottling facility in San Isidro in the Alicante province last month. The facility will operate similarly to the existing bottling plant in Tarragona, using high pressure to fill cylinders with 50% more gas, resulting in cost savings in the storage and transport of cylinders.

Messer has been active in Spain for more than 40 years, and the headquarters in Tarragona contains two ASUs, the second of which became operational this year, using a dedicated 90-kilometer pipeline to supply industrial gases to petrochemical companies in the area. The facility produces nitrogen, argon and oxygen, which are transported to San Isidro by truck and stored in liquid form in gas tanks before being converted to a gaseous state before bottling.

The Messer family has rebounded from hard times, especially in 2004, when it was forced to sell off almost two-thirds of its operations before acquiring the remaining shares in the company to make it a family-owned business. Messer and other industrial gas manufacturers are hoping that forecasts for a 7% global increase in industrial gas demand through 2011 is accurate.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy related markets. For more than 26 years, Industrial Info has provided plant and project opportunity databases, market forecasts, high resolution maps, and daily industry news.