Air Products Signs Strategic Cooperation Agreement with Sinopec and EPEC for E-Commerce in China

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., May 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Products (NYSE: APD), a world-leading industrial gases supplier and U.S. Fortune 500 company, today announced it has recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Petrochemical International (Chongqing) Co., Ltd. and EPEC to propel e-commerce business development on the EPEC.com portal.

Under the agreement, the three parties will build long-term and strategic partnerships through communication and cooperation on procurement, sales, supply chain financial services, international market expansion, and credit system construction.

Built on the concept of "Internet + Supply Chain," EPEC.com is an innovative SC2B (supply chain to business) industrial e-commerce portal fueled by Sinopec's huge procurement needs. While enabling Sinopec to maximize its supply chain competitiveness, it also provides procurement, sales, financial and integrated services to many other companies, helping them reduce operating costs and reap mutual benefits from procurement management experience and results. The portal went live in April 2015 and officially started commercial operation on April 18, 2016. As of this mid-April, more than RMB92.4 billion (approximately US$13.4 billion) of orders have been executed involving over 33 million products from more than 35,000 suppliers.

"Air Products is honored to be the first industrial gases supplier and the third multinational company to establish such a strategic partnership with Sinopec and EPEC on e-commerce," said Air Products' Industrial Gases China President Saw Choon Seong at the signing ceremony. "Driven by our longstanding commitment to China, we dedicate ourselves to cooperate with our distinguished customers and leading companies here, such as Sinopec, to support the country's social and economic growth."

"This project is one of our efforts to support the 'Internet+' strategy and accelerate structural transformation of the manufacturing industries under the government's 13^th Five-Year Plan. We can leverage the platform to help boost the 'Internet Industrial Gases' initiative and provide even stronger support to the sustainable development of China's industrial gases industry. We will continuously innovate our sales model to better serve manufacturers in the chemical and other industries with our gas offerings," Saw added.

Air Products was one of the first multinational industrial gases corporations to enter China when setting up its first plant in Shenzhen in 1987. For 30 years, the company has been growing with the China market, helping customers from over 30 industries improve productivity, efficiency, quality and environmental performance with its high-quality products, leading-edge technologies and sustainable solutions.

Today, the company has around 2,500 employees, more than 60 entities, over 130 production facilities, and has built more than a dozen world-class air separation units for significant energy projects in the country, including the largest on-site ASU order ever awarded to an industrial gases company. It has also established a number of regional or global capabilities, including R&D, sourcing, engineering, cryogenic equipment manufacturing, and IT application. Air Products' Global Cryogenic Equipment Manufacturing Center in Caojing produces different types of industrial gas equipment for large air separation units that have production capabilities up to 150,000 Nm3/h oxygen and is one of the company's global distillation column and cold box manufacturing centers.

In addition to EPEC.com, Air Products is currently leveraging other digital platforms to enhance customer experience including its APDirect portal, WeChat customer portal, and cylinder serialization for speedy, convenient and safe delivery.

About Air Products

Air Products (NYSE:APD) is a world-leading Industrial Gases company in operation for over 75 years. The Company's core industrial gases business provides atmospheric and process gases and related equipment to manufacturing markets, including refining and petrochemical, metals, electronics, and food and beverage. Air Products is also the world's leading supplier of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment.

The Company had fiscal 2016 sales of $7.5 billion from continuing operations in 50 countries and has a current market capitalization of approximately $30 billion. Approximately 16,000 employees are making Air Products the world's safest and best performing industrial gases company, providing sustainable offerings and excellent service to all customers. For more information, visit www.airproducts.com.

NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release regarding important risk factors. Actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors not anticipated by management, including risk factors described in the Company's Form 10K for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2016.

SOURCE Air Products

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