Air Products' $2.8 Billion in Projects Point to Growth in China, U.S. Gulf Coast

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Stronger prices and higher volumes boosted Air Products (NYSE:APD) (Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania) in its fiscal first quarter for 2020, and the company is eyeing a traditional destination for its latest round of buildouts: the U.S. Gulf Coast, where it recently announced a record-setting investment. However, the industrial gases company's Asian assets seem to be providing bigger near-term benefits. Industrial Info is tracking more than $2.75 billion in global projects from Air Products, including nearly $1.2 billion worth in North America.

Click on the image at right for a map detailing Air Products' U.S.-based projects.

Despite its restrained outlook, Air Products is seizing an opportunity to build the largest U.S. investment in its history: an estimated $500 million steam methane reformer (SMR) in Texas City, Texas, which will produce hydrogen for Gulf Coast Ammonia LLC's (Miami Beach, Florida) world-scale anhydrous ammonia plant, also planned for Texas City, via its existing hydrogen pipeline system in the Gulf Coast, which the company plans to expand to about 700 miles. The facility also will feature an air separation unit that will supply nitrogen to GCA under a 20-year contract.

The new SMR will be the largest in Air Products' history. The company currently expects the pipeline to be operational in the second half of 2021, with the remainder of the facilities to be operational in early 2023. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report, and January 10, 2020, article - Planned U.S. Ammonia Project Kickoffs Top $7 Billion in 2020.

The Gulf Coast is home to at least two other SMR projects from Air Products, one of which is slated to begin construction later this year: an SMR addition at a hydrogen complex in Geismar, Louisiana, which will provide a large but currently unspecified amount of hydrogen for an expanded ammonia unit at the complex. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Air Products already has a smaller SMR under construction nearby in Geismar, expected to produce about 50 million standard cubic feet per day of hydrogen and 370 tons per day of carbon monoxide. The project, which is in its final commissioning phase, is expected to wrap up in the coming weeks. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Air Products expects its capital expenditures for the full 2020 fiscal year to be between $4 billion and $4.5 billion. Three projects under construction are expected to wrap up in the first quarter of 2021:

• a pair of air separation units at the Eastman Chemical Plant in Kingsport, Tennessee, each of which will produce 800 tons per day of oxygen; see project report
• a second air separation unit at a facility in Osceola, Arkansas, will provide oxygen, nitrogen and argon for Big River Steel LLC's expansion at its nearby Osceola steel mill, as well as the merchant market; see project report
• a liquid hydrogen unit at a facility in La Porte, Texas, will produce about 30 tons per day; see project report

Air Products' industrial gas sales in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa segment fell 5% in its fiscal first quarter, but sales in Asia jumped 11% from the same period last year. The largest project by Air Products worldwide is a proposed air separation plant in Yulin, China, which is designed to produce 40,000 metric tons per day of oxygen. Air Products is building the facility with Shaanxi Future Energy Group Company Limited, a subsidiary of Yankuang Group, and the oxygen produced will go toward the production of synthesis gas, or "syngas." For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.