Asian gas market revenues grew by 10% between 2004-05 to reach US$570 million. BOC (Linde Group) is the largest gas supplier in the region, where it began trading in the first half of the 20th Century. The company is the main supplier in Pakistan and Bangladesh, but has slipped from the number one supplier ranking in India, a position now held by Praxair.
Other major companies that are developing business opportunities in the region, particularly in India, include Air Products and Air Liquide. Linde and Air Liquide have established engineering divisions in India too, to build ASUs for the local market. Through the acquisition of the BOC Group, Linde now has a significant presence in the region. Many small to medium sized companies operate in the South Asian region, apart from in Sri Lanka. In India alone there are more than 250 gas companies, many operating their own small cylinder filling plants.
Bangladesh awaits growth
Revenues from the industrial gas business in Bangladesh fell to US$ 28 million in 2005, a dip of 16% compared with the previous year’s earnings. BOC Bangladesh (BOCB) has a big slice of the market, followed up by several smaller players, linked mostly to the ship-breaking business.
Present in Bangladesh for over 50 years, BOCB hit a rough patch from 2001-2004 due to a downturn in the ship-breaking industry, when it cut production sites from five to three, and consolidated its dissolved acetylene manufacturing at Dhaka.
... to continue reading you must be subscribed
