Air Liquide invests over 800 million yuan in China to build four new gas production facilities
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On July 2, Air Liquide announced that it has signed four new gas supply agreements with Chinese clients. The company will invest over 800 million yuan to build, own, and operate four world-class production facilities, which will supply ultra-high-purity nitrogen for the manufacturing of logic chips and semiconductor equipment, as well as for advanced outsourced semiconductor packaging and testing solutions. The four new nitrogen production plants are located in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions. They are expected to be put into operation gradually from late 2027 to early 2028, with a total production capacity of 100,000 standard cubic meters per hour.
This news is quite significant; Air Liquide’s actions are clearly in line with the pace of expansion in China’s semiconductor industry. Ultra-high purity nitrogen is one of the most widely used gases in chip manufacturing. The Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta are areas where wafer factories and packaging and testing facilities are concentrated; the installation of these four units is scheduled for 2027–2028, which is a quite timely timing. Two additional points for reference: First, although the localization of electronic-grade high-purity gases in China is accelerating, international giants such as Air Liquide still hold a dominant position in the high-end market, and their investments directly reduce the gas consumption costs for downstream chip manufacturers ； Secondly, a production capacity of 100,000 standard cubic meters per hour is not small; if the degree of localization increases in the future, it will also help to stabilize prices for surrounding secondary and tertiary suppliers. Of course, the investment payback period and the actual utilization rate of the production lines will also depend on the conditions of the semiconductor market in the coming years. Those who are interested can take a look at the operations of Air Liquide’s existing factories in Wuxi and Guangzhou to make comparisons.