New Air Products Plant On-stream in China's Nanjing Pukou Economic Development Zone

Company Further Strengthens Position to Serve Nanjing and Integrated Circuit Industry

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Dec 05, 2017, 08:57 ET

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., Dec. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Products (NYSE: APD), a world-leading industrial gases company, today announced its new plant in the Pukou Economic Development Zone (PKEDZ), Nanjing, eastern China, has come on-stream to supply ultra-high purity gases to its customer in the park. The facility also provides liquid nitrogen to merchant customers in and around Nanjing. The company announced this investment in new capacity last year.

The PKEDZ is a state-level high-tech park that is growing into a hub for advanced manufacturing sectors including integrated circuit (IC), new materials and bio-medicine. It is only 35 kilometers away from the Nanjing Chemical Industry Park (NCIP), where Air Products has already built a leading position over the past decade with three large air separation units serving several hundred customers in the park and across Nanjing through pipelines and various other supply modes.

"We are excited to have brought this strategic milestone project on-stream in short lead time to serve both our international customer in PKEDZ and the increasing demand in Nanjing," said Frank Yu, vice president‒Eastern China, Industrial Gases, at Air Products. "Air Products has already established a strong position in Nanjing and eastern China with integrated and reliable supply capabilities. We will continue to invest and play our role to support the fast-growing semiconductor industry driven by the Made in China 2025 strategy and the government's high-tech manufacturing target under the 13^th Five-Year Plan."

China's IC industry is developing at a fast pace, fueled by a major government initiative launched in 2014 with billions of dollars of funding to advance its domestic electronics manufacturing industries. Several industrial clusters have emerged across the country, creating great demand for high-quality industrial gases.

Air Products is a leading integrated gases supplier serving the global electronics industry for over 40 years. In China, the company has been committed to supporting the semiconductor industry in the development of next generation consumer devices, such as smart phones, tablet computers, and digital cameras, and is supplying many of the world's leading manufacturers. In addition to Nanjing, the company is also building new plants in Fujian Province, Anhui Province and Tianjin in southern, eastern and northern China, respectively, to supply its IC customers.

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 2017 sales of $8.2 billion from continuing operations in 50 countries and has a current market capitalization of approximately $35 billion. Approximately 15,000 passionate, talented and committed employees from a diversity of backgrounds are driven by Air Products' higher purpose to create innovative solutions that benefit the environment, enhance sustainability and address the challenges facing customers, communities, and the world. 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, 2017.

SOURCE Air Products