Praxair (China) Investment Co., Ltd has started up a new 400-tonne/day air separation plant for LianZhong (GZ) Stainless Steel Corp. in Guangzhou, South China. LianZhong will produce 800,000 tons per year of stainless steel to meet the growing demands of the Chinese market.
The new Praxair plant will supply high volumes of high-purity oxygen, nitrogen and argon to LianZhong via pipeline. The facility will also provide a supply of merchant liquid products to other customers in the region.
“We have quickly and successfully grown our business in southern China by delivering fully integrated products and services to our customers,” said David Chow, Praxair China President. “The new plant broadens our already diversified customer base and positions us for even further growth in the region. This is a testimony to the capabilities of Praxair and a practical demonstration of what we can achieve with the support of our customers and local authorities.”
The supply to LianZhong is Praxair’s first supply to the stainless steel sector. With five other large air separation plants already in operation in Shaoguan and Huizhou, this sixth air separation plant pushes Praxair’s total investment in Guangdong Province to over $100 million.
Praxair China, a subsidiary of Praxair, Inc., is a leading global industrial gases supplier in China, serving a diverse group of industries through the production, sale, distribution and value-added application of industrial gases. With over 1000 employees across the country, Praxair China, headquartered in Shanghai, operates 13 wholly owned companies and 11 joint ventures.
With 27,000 employees and operations in more than 30 countries, Praxair, Inc. is a global Fortune 500 company. Praxair is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America, and one of the largest worldwide, with 2006 sales of $8.3 billion. The company produces, sells and distributes atmospheric and process gases and high performance surface coatings.
Invested by Taiwan-based Yieh United Steel Corp, Lianzhong (Guangzhou) Stainless Steel Corp. (LISCO) is a large scale, modern integrated stainless steel production enterprise approved by the State Council. Designed with state-of-the-art technology, LISCO will be the first and best-integrated stainless steel manufacturer in Southern China. The plant will comprise a meltshop, continuous slab caster, hot strip mill, and cold rolling mill. The LISCO Project meets the strong demand of economic growth in the area and will keep clean production methods to protect the environment. Its design has been granted as one of the Key Engineering Projects of Guangdong Province in 2005 and also been listed as an Encouraging Projects of State.
Yieh United Steel Corp. (YUSCO) was founded in December 1988. With total investments exceeding 40 billion New Taiwan dollars (US $1.2 billion), YUSCO is the largest integrated stainless steel mill in Southeast Asia and the world’s seventh largest stainless steel producer. The company is based in Kaohsiung County, Southern Taiwan.