The higher cost of cylinders and tanks since 2020 and the disruption of the pandemic has changed the market in North America, with prices still much higher in real terms today than pre-pandemic.
For distributors, it is a shift that means that keeping cylinders and tanks looking good as well as functional is even more important, given the cost of replacement.
“And it is a development that is impacting the market [and our customers] in some respects,” said John Norton of Select Gases in Atlanta.
“In recent times there has been growing interest in investing in microbulk tanks in many industries, because of the advantages that the extra volume offers compared with cylinder supply. But now the rising cost of these kinds of investments has made them less attractive. The set-up costs today mean that many smaller companies are opting very often for 12- or 16-packs of cylinders rather than microbulk.”
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