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20 min ago 3 min read
Industrial gas major Air Products will invest around $250m in Arizona to build, own and operate new gas supply infrastructure to supply an unnamed semiconductor manufacturer’s US plant and production expansion plans.
This drives the company’s recent semiconductor supply investments to more than $900m across two projects, following an that the company would build four air separation units (ASUs) in Taiwan tied to semiconductor expansion.
Air Products said it secured a long-term offtake agreement for high-purity hydrogen, helium and carbon dioxide (CO2), and will build related infrastructure to support the customer’s semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging operations.
Despite not naming the offtaker, Francesco Maione, Air Products’ President, Americas, Helium and Rare Gases, said, “[This] long-term win in the US strengthens our established global relationship with this strategic and important customer.”
Air Products has not revealed where the new gas supply infrastructure will be built in Arizona, a targeted startup date, or volumes of gas covered by the offtake deal. However, supply is targeted to come online in phases.
The investment covers hydrogen generation units, CO2 purification units, bulk gas systems for helium, hydrogen and CO2, and associated storage, purification, analytical equipment and pipeline infrastructure.
The company has an existing presence in the Arizona semiconductor market through its Chandler facility, which operates an ultra-high purity nitrogen pipeline network to support semiconductor manufacturing in the greater Phoenix area.
Air Products’ semiconductor opportunity
Two-thirds of Air Products’ current opportunities are in the electronics space, with the company’s now heavily skewed towards the sector as traditional chemicals and steel markets remain focused largely on replacement projects.
In April, the company it would build, own, and operate industrial gas production facilities and a bulk specialty gas system in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, to supply electronics firm Samsung.
In terms of backlog, the company’s Taiwanese subsidiary, Air Products San Fu, confirmed an investment of in several state-of-the-art onsite plants in Taiwan in 2022.
Electronics is becoming a bigger part of the for the world’s largest industrial gas companies, with semiconductor demand also playing a major role in the latest results from Linde, Air Liquide, and Nippon Sanso.
