Linde Gases Secures Two Supply Contracts for Specialty and Calibration Gases in Thailand

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Linde Gases, a subsidiary of Linde AG (ETR:LIN) (Munich, Germany), has secured two contracts to supply calibration and high purity gases in Thailand. The first contract was awarded by PTT Group (Bangkok, Thailand) for the supply of specialty, high purity gases that will be utilized for PTT Group's research and development activities. According to reports, this contract is the largest specialty gases contract to have been awarded in Thailand. PTT Group is one of the largest petrochemicals and refining companies in the country.

Linde's high purity gases division supplies precision engineering equipment, gas mixtures, distribution solutions and support services for industry-specific specialty gases. Linde Gases' brands include the Verise range of pharmaceuticals gases; Spectra Seal, which includes calibration gas mixtures; the Baseline and Redline ranges, respectively for specialty gas regulators and specialty gases equipment; and Ecocyl, which includes portable specialty gas solutions.

Linde Gases has also signed a contract with Map Ta Phut Olefins Company Limited (MOC), a fully owned subsidiary of Rayong Olefins Company Limited (Bang Su, Thailand). The agreement includes the supply of calibration gases for MOC's integrated olefins and polyolefins production facility in Map Ta Phut. In 2008, MOC began the construction of the olefins and polyolefins plant, which is expected to produce 800,000 tons per year of propylene and 900,000 tons per year of ethylene. Production is scheduled to start in 2010. The facility will also include downstream polypropylene and high-density polypropylene units, each with capacities of 400,000 tons per year. Technip SA (OTC:TKPPY) (Paris, France) was selected to develop a steam cracker furnace, while Samsung Engineering Company Limited (SEO:028050) (Seoul, South Korea) was awarded the contract to construct olefins convergence and recovering units and cracking facilities.

In a related development, Linde announced plans to invest $127.3 million to build a state-of-the-art air separation unit (ASU) for Tata Steel Limited (BSE:500470) (Mumbai) in Jamshedpur. The unit will be constructed by Linde's Indian subsidiary BOC India Limited (BSE:523457) (Kolkata, West Bengal). The 2,550-ton-per-day facility will be the largest in India, and Linde's largest in the Asian region. Linde has also signed a long-term contract with Tata Steel to supply 4,000 tons per day of gaseous argon, nitrogen and oxygen.

For the quarter ending September 2009, Linde reported a dip of 4.5% in net profit. This has been attributed to the impact of the global slowdown and the company's cost-cutting measures. Net income in the July-September quarter slumped to 169 million euros ($253 million) from 177 million euros ($265 million) during the same period in 2008. During this period, revenue also dropped to 2.8 billion euroes ($4.19 billion) compared to 3.1 billion euros ($4.64 billion) during the third quarter of 2008. In the quarter, the gases division contributed revenue of 2.3 billion ($3.44 billion), with operating income of 625 million euros ($935.7 million). Company sources have indicated that the decline in revenue and income is mainly due to currency fluctuations that impacted gas revenues in Western Europe. Although markets in Eastern Europe, the Americas and Asia have also slumped, there are signs of recovery in these regions. Linde, which employs 52,000 people in 100 countries, recorded revenues of €12.7 billion ($19 billion) in 2008.

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