Specialist
Former Director at Praxair Inc
Agenda
- Competition between Linde (ETR: LIN) and Air Products (NYSE: APD)
- CAPEX analysis and project announcements
- Production costs and areas for improvement
- Long-term pricing outlook
Questions
1.
Could you give an overview of the industrial gas sector’s operating environment? How has it evolved since 2020?
2.
What is the main issue with the oxygen shortage in India? Is it a bottleneck, or is it Indian government policy? How might this be resolved?
3.
How would you describe the competition between Air Liquide, Linde and Air Products, given how the industrial gas market is evolving?
4.
What are the demand trends for renewable hydrogen in the transportation sectors, especially for industrial power generation? Which sectors do you think have the most potential?
5.
Hydrogen production costs vary significantly. I understand the difference between grey and blue hydrogen is about 50%, while there’s an additional 450% for green hydrogen. What do you think of this figure? Where are the additional costs most concentrated in the green hydrogen process?
6.
Why do you think Linde acquired just 20% of ITM Power in October 2019?
7.
What are your thoughts on Air Products’ USD 5bn production facility project in Saudi Arabia? Do you think the 1.2 million tonnes of green ammonia it will produce per year is enough volume for Air Products’ customers to justify the additional global shipping costs?
8.
Linde is working with ITM Power on PEM [polymer electrolyte membrane] electrolysers and Air Products is working with ThyssenKrupp to produce green ammonia, as well as with Neom in Saudi Arabia. What opportunities do you think these JVs are pursuing? Which strategies carry more risk?
9.
Which customers might Air Products target for green ammonia? Who might be interested in it?
10.
How feasible is Linde’s project to update Europe’s gas infrastructure for hydrogen? It has partnered with Snam to accomplish this. Could the project be a bottleneck for wider adoption in Europe in the short term?
11.
What could green hydrogen add to Air Products and Linde’s bottom lines in the long term? What should green hydrogen’s value chain position be to have the best effect for the two companies over the next few years?
12.
Which of the big three industrial gas producers do you think is best-positioned? What projects or trends should we follow over the coming years?
13.
Is there anything you wanted to highlight that we haven’t discussed?