Air Products Boosts its Role in Hydrogen, Air Separation Tech as Pandemic Hits Helium

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Industrial gases company Air Products and Chemicals Incorporated (NYSE:APD) (Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania) is picking up the pace of its international acquisitions, as it continues to weigh the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on its industry. Although the demand for hydrogen and air-separation technology remains strong, the pullback in helium demand has not gone unnoticed. Industrial Info is tracking more than $8.5 billion in active projects from Air Products worldwide, including more than $1 billion worth in North America.

Air Products has been growing its global footprint in recent months. Last week, the company announced it had acquired the remaining 50% equity stake in its gasification technology joint venture with China Shenhua Coal-to-Liquid and Chemical Company Limited, a subsidiary of China Energy Group. Air Products picked up its first 50% stake when it acquired General Electric's (NYSE:GE) (Boston, Massachusetts) gasification business in 2019.

Industrial Info is tracking more than $790 million in existing projects in China involving Air Products. Click here for a list.

"There are a significant number of coal gasification projects under consideration--not only in China, but also in India and Indonesia. Those are the places that we see the most activity," said Seifi Ghasemi, the chief executive officer of Air Products, in a recent quarterly earnings-related conference call. "We are optimistic about gasification. We have a very, very strong position there."

In the U.S., Air Products is keeping busy along the Texas Gulf Coast. One of the largest projects in the company's history, an estimated $500 million steam methane reformer (SMR) in Texas City, Texas, began construction last year and is expected to produce hydrogen for Gulf Coast Ammonia LLC's (Miami Beach, Florida) world-scale anhydrous ammonia plant, located nearby. The company also is at work on a new hydrogen unit and a modernization of the air separation plant at its industrial gases complex in La Porte, Texas.

"We see great opportunities ahead in gasification, carbon capture and hydrogen for mobility, and we continue to develop and invest in strategic opportunity to drive our growth for decades to come," Ghasemi said in the conference call. The La Porte projects are set to wrap up this spring and summer, while the Texas City project will not finish construction until first-quarter 2023, at the earliest. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the Texas City SMR, and the La Porte hydrogen unit and modernization.

Click on the image at right for a map of Air Products' active projects along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

One of Air Products' strongest suits is air separation units (ASUs), which have seen a growth in demand from the oil, gas, chemical, metals and healthcare industries. The global market for ASUs is valued at $4.5 billion and is projected to reach $5.9 billion by 2026, according to a recent report from market research firm MarketsandMarkets.

Air Products expects to finish construction later this year on a pair of ASU additions at its oxygen, nitrogen and argon plant in Kingsport, Tennessee, to supply oxygen for Eastman Chemical Company's (NYSE:EMN) (Kingsport) nearby plant. It also is considering a proposed ASU addition at its oxygen, nitrogen and argon plant in Cleveland, Ohio; if approved and built, it would double the plant's capacity to 700 tons per day. For more information, see Industrial Info's reports on the Kingsport and Cleveland projects.

Helium has been a major underperformer for Air Products during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ghasemi conceded in the conference call: "We sell a lot of helium to MRI machines and to balloons and all of that. People are not doing elective surgeries, the volumes of helium is down, and people are not having many parties, and the general activity is down."

In December, Air Products began construction on a transfill station addition at its helium plant in Liberal, Kansas, which the company says is one of the largest helium purification and liquefaction plants in the world. The station is being relocated from Air Products' now-closed plant in Gruver, Texas. 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.