Air Products Starts Up New Plant in Chongqing City for China's Leading LCD Panel Fab

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., April 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Products (NYSE: APD), a world-leading industrial gases company, today announced that it has started up a new plant in the Banan District in Chongqing City, western China, to supply China's highest-generation, most advanced and most efficient TFT-LCD (thin-film transistor liquid crystal display) fab, which is now in operation. The new project represents another investment by the company to serve the fast-paced development of the country's electronics manufacturing industry. It also further strengthens the company's market position in western China, particularly Chongqing, which is a fast emerging, key production base for high-technology industries.

The fab, which is owned and operated by Chongqing HKC Optoelectronics Technology Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of the domestic display leader Huike Electronics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., is located in the Banan Jieshi IT Industrial Park. It is the largest investment in the Banan District and will fuel Chongqing's ambition of becoming a 100-billion-yuan LCD production base by 2020 under the 'Made in China 2025' strategy. Air Products' high-quality bulk gases, including high-purity nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, argon and helium, are being used for its production of 8.6 generation TFT-LCD panels.

"As a leading industrial gases supplier to the global electronics industry for over 40 years, Air Products is honored to have been selected to support this strategic electronics project," said Saw Choon Seong, China president, Industrial Gases at Air Products. "We have been committed to supporting the growth of domestic companies in the high-end manufacturing sectors and regional industrial restructuring as guided by the 13^th Five-Year Plan and 'Made in China 2025' strategy. The new plant further expands our capacity to meet the growing needs in Chongqing and western China with the region taking off as a major high-technology manufacturing base in the country."

Amid the government's 'Go West' drive that today targets to develop high value-added and innovation-driven industries, Chongqing and other big cities in western China, such as Xi'an and Chengdu, have been attracting investment by global and domestic players from the science and high-technology sectors. Key integrated circuit (IC), display panel and high-end equipment manufacturing clusters have emerged, including the Banan District, which shows huge growth potential. To support the region's industrial development, Air Products has been investing in building and strengthening its local production capability and supply position.

The company has been serving many world-leading and domestic manufacturers in the development of next generation electronics devices. In Xian, it is supplying one of China's most advanced fabs, which is owned and operated by a leading global semiconductor company, and also the local merchant gas market. Air Products also announced further investment in the Nanjing Pukou Economic Development Zone in eastern China last year and the Fujian (Jinjiang) Integrated Circuit Industrial Park in southern China to serve the increasing gas demands from the IC and other industries.

In western China, Air Products has been supporting the development of the local electronics, energy and many other industries. It has built more than a dozen world-class air separation units (ASU) for significant energy projects in the country, including the largest on-site ASU order ever awarded to an industrial gases company.

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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