Air Liquide foresees doubling sales until 2012
Gazeta Mercantil - 07/14/2008
Manufacturer of industrial and hospital gases Air Liquide wants to double its size in Brazil until 2012. Ahead of the mission is the new managing officer of the company in the Country, Marcelo Fioranelli, who took office little more than a month ago, replacing Roger Perreault, and became the first Brazilian to take over the office. The goal is to make the sales of the company to reach R$ 1.3 billion (US$ 812.5 million), compared to 2007's R$ 650 million (US$ 336.8 million), and allow a growth in the market share between 1 and 1.5 percent a year. The company currently affirms it has nearly 12% of the market of medical gases and 5% of the segment aimed at large industrial projects, the main focus of growth. Air Liquide already has some industrial units inside other plants, such as in Bayer's, in Belford Roxo (RJ) and at Solvay's, in Santo André (SP). But, for Fioranelli there is room for growth in the segment. There are many projects of investment in new plants, especially in the steel and petrochemical segment", he said. For the moment, the company is already building a unit to meet the need of Companhia Siderúrgica do Atlântico (CSA), a 5 million ton plant that is being built in Santa Cruz (RJ) for the German group ThyssenKrupp. There, Air Liquide, together with White Martins and Thyssen's services area, should invest nearly US$ 150 million in the plant that may serve CSA and generate surplus to supply the growing market. In total, the company, which foresees increase of capacity by 150% until 2010, already has approved investments of nearly US$ 250 million, the greatest part of which shall be directed to the CSA project, but part is being directed to two other new units, such as the unit of Araucária, to be inaugurated in August, and the Mauá unit (SP), whose start-up is expected for 2010. Another growth strategy pointed out by Fioranelli is the geographic expansion, initially towards the Northeast. Out of the already approved resources, nearly US$ 30 million should be aimed at the region, for the construction of the plant, of units for the compression of gases and distributors, at a project which is not yet fully outlined.