PT Air Liquide starts new operation

PT Air Liquide starts new operation

SERANG, West Java (JP): PT Air Liquide Indonesia, a French
joint venture company, inaugurated its air separation plant here
yesterday, which was established with an investment of US$35
million to produce industrial gases.

The plant, whose inauguration was attended by an expert
assistant to the minister of industry and trade, Soesanto
Sahardjo, has a production capacity of 220 tons of oxygen per
day, 10,000 cubic meters of nitrogen per hour, 220 cubic meters
of argon per hour and 500 cubic meter of hydrogen per hour.

The gases are used as basic materials for chemical, steel,
glass and electronics industries.

"Our customers are mainly nearby industrial companies in West
Java, including the state-owned PT Krakatau Steel and PT Chandra
Asri, a manufacturer of olefin products," said the company's
president, M.O.K. Kwong Weng.

He said the company, which was established in 1993, has
established a 30-kilometer pipeline network to transport its
products to its customers.

The company is a joint venture of a local company and Air
Liquide, a French firm which has operations in 62 countries,
including Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan,
China, the Philippines and India.

When asked, Weng refused to mention the local partner, saying
only that: "I want it to be confidential." (kod)