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Air Liquide Invests in New Production Units in Middle East
Aug. 31, 2010 Air Liquide continues its development in the Middle East, investing almost €60 million in new production units to support its customers from the steel sector.
In Egypt, in the industrial zone of Sadat City, the Group has signed a new long-term contract with steel manufacturer EZZ to supply gaseous oxygen. A production unit with a capacity of 110 tonnes per day of gaseous oxygen will be commissioned at the end of 2011.
In Qatar, through its subsidiary GASAL, the Group has signed a new long-term contract with Qatar Steel. A new oxygen production unit will be added to the existing two, bringing total production capacity on this site to 650 tonnes of oxygen per day. This unit is expected to be commissioned in the first quarter of 2012.
The Group has also begun activities in Syria with its first unit in the country. An oxygen production unit with a capacity of 200 tonnes per day, dedicated to steel producer Medsteel, was recently commissioned in the new industrial city of Adraa, near Damascus. This unit also produces liquid nitrogen and argon.
Air Liquide has a presence in Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates, where the Group has its Middle East headquarters. The company is present in more than 75 countries with 42,300 employees. In 2009, the Group’s revenues amounted to €12 billion, of which almost 80% were generated outside France. Air Liquide is listed on the Paris Euronext stock exchange (compartment A) and is a member of the CAC 40 and Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 indexes.