The US industrial gas industry is moving forward from the challenges and uncertainties brought by the global economic struggles of the past few years, driven by the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and geopolitical energy issues. As the US moves into 2025 with continuing GDP growth, a healthy labor market, and productivity enhancements from artificial intelligence, the industry looks set to continue to grow. At the same time, the US elections have contributed to a wait-and-hold attitude when it comes to new investments, and not surprisingly it has leaked into this new year, as various markets try to understand how the new presidency and potential tariffs may impact business.
When it comes to air gases, supply chain issues that began during the pandemic have been improving but are not fully resolved, with many challenges persisting. Like other parts of the industrial gas business, US air gases production and investment has been impacted in some markets more than others by these supply chain challenges, including issues.
These issues have caused some planned plant startups to be delayed and in general slowed new plant builds due to a lack of demand. At the same time, US economic data points to some markets being more resilient than others. Markets that have fared better include healthcare, electronics, and food processing, while the greatest negative impact has been on general manufacturing and the metals sector.
In 2024, announcements of domestic air separation unit (ASU) and liquefaction builds and expansions for startup through 2027 were similar to the prior year, reflecting the impact of the slow recovery to the economy on the US air gases business. At the end of 2024, just three new or ASU expansions with liquefaction had come online in the prior 12 months, with an additional four new ASUs expected to come on-stream between now and 2027.
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