PARIS, Feb. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Liquide China will build new production capacities in Mianyang City (100 km Northwest of Chengdu), Sichuan Province and Chongqing City. These will supply BOE, the world's leading company in flat-panel displays and an IoT company, in the context of new long-term supply agreements. Since 2017, Air Liquide's total investment for BOE amounts to more than 100 million euros.
High-purity gas production facilities
Air Liquide will build, own and operate new high-purity nitrogen production facilities with a total capacity of 75,000 Nm3/h, for BOE's production of AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode) displays, a technology that is increasingly used in high-end smartphones. It will also provide volumes of oxygen, hydrogen, argon and carbon dioxide to BOE fabs in Chongqing and Mianyang. The facilities are expected to begin operations in 2021.
Leveraging Air Liquide's most advanced technologies, and in line with its Climate Objectives, the new power-efficient nitrogen production facilities are expected to have a reduced power consumption by 10% compared to previous units, which is equivalent to avoiding CO2 emissions of over 8,000 tons per year.
Since the beginning of its partnership with BOE in 2004, Air Liquide has continued to build on this relationship, with the construction of carrier gas plants on 10 sites across China to support the gas and services requirements of BOE.
Francois Abrial, member of the Air Liquide Group's Executive Committee supervising Asia-Pacific, said: "Air Liquide is pleased to strengthen its over 15-year long partnership with BOE, which testifies of our ability to provide unique technical expertise as well as safe and reliable service to our clients over the long term. Air Liquide is a provider of innovative solutions for the growing electronics industry, particularly in the context of world deployment of 5G networks. Thanks to these new production capacities, the Group will not only support a strategic customer, but will also contribute to the development of an industry which is well established in the southwest of China."
Air Liquide in China
Air Liquide in China operates nearly 100 plants and employs close to 5,000 employees today. With a strong presence in the key coastal industrial areas, Air Liquide is now expanding into the center, south and west. Its main business activities include industrial and medical gas operations, home health service, Engineering & Construction (designing, manufacturing and installing air separation units/hydrogen facilities), as well as Innovation activities.
A world leader in gases, technologies and services for Industry and Health, Air Liquide is present in 80 countries with approximately 67,000 employees and serves more than 3.7 million customers and patients. Oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are essential small molecules for life, matter and energy. They embody Air Liquide's scientific territory and have been at the core of the company's activities since its creation in 1902.
Air Liquide's ambition is to be a leader in its industry, deliver long term performance and contribute to sustainability. The company's customer-centric transformation strategy aims at profitable, regular and responsible growth over the long term. It relies on operational excellence, selective investments, open innovation and a network organization implemented by the Group worldwide. Through the commitment and inventiveness of its people, Air Liquide leverages energy and environment transition, changes in healthcare and digitization, and delivers greater value to all its stakeholders.
Air Liquide's revenue amounted to 22 billion euros in 2019 and its solutions that protect life and the environment represented more than 40% of sales. Air Liquide is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange (compartment A) and belongs to the CAC 40, EURO STOXX 50 and FTSE4Good indexes.
