Praxair, Inc. (Praxair or company) was founded in 1907 and became an independent
publicly traded company in 1992. Praxair was the first company in the United States
to produce oxygen from air using a cryogenic process and continues to be a major
technological innovator in the industrial gases industry.
Praxair is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America
and is rapidly growing in Asia, and has a well-established business in southern
Europe. Praxair's primary products for its industrial gases business are atmospheric
gases (oxygen, nitrogen, argon, rare gases), process gases (carbon dioxide,
helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, acetylene).
The company also designs, engineers, and builds equipment that produces industrial
gases for internal use and external sale. The company's surface technology segment,
operated through Praxair Surface Technologies, Inc., supplies wear-resistant
and high-temperature corrosion-resistant metallic and ceramic coatings and powders.
Industrial Gases Products and Manufacturing Processes
Atmospheric gases are the highest volume products produced by Praxair. Using
air as its raw material, Praxair produces oxygen, nitrogen and argon through
several air separation processes, of which, cryogenic air separation, is the
most prevalent process. As a pioneer in the industrial gases industry, Praxair
is a leader in developing a wide range of proprietary and patented applications
and supply systems technology, including small cryogenic nitrogen plants. Praxair
also led the development and commercialization of non-cryogenic air separation
technologies for the production of industrial gases.
These technologies open important new markets and optimize production capacity
for the company by lowering the cost of supply of industrial gases. These technologies
include proprietary vacuum pressure swing adsorption ('VPSA') and membrane separation
to produce gaseous oxygen and nitrogen, respectively. Praxair also manufactures
precious metal and ceramic sputtering targets used primarily in the production
of semiconductors.
Process gases, including carbon dioxide, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, helium
and acetylene, are produced by different methods than air separation technologies.
Most carbon dioxide is purchased from by-product sources, including chemical
plants, refineries, industrial processes, and is recovered from carbon dioxide
wells, and is processed in Praxair's plants to produce commercial carbon dioxide.
Hydrogen and carbon monoxide are produced by either steam methane reforming
of natural gas or by purifying by-product sources obtained from the chemical
and petrochemical industries.
Most of the helium sold by Praxair is sourced from certain helium-rich natural
gas streams in the United States, with additional supplies being acquired from
outside the United States. Acetylene is typically produced from calcium carbide
and water or purchased as a chemical by-product.
Customers ' Praxair is not dependent upon a single customer or a few customers.
RAW MATERIALS AND ENERGY COSTS
Energy is the single largest cost item in the production and distribution of
industrial gases. Most of Praxair's energy requirements are in the form of electricity,
natural gas and diesel fuel for distribution. Praxair minimizes the financial
impact of variability in these costs through the management of customer contracts
which typically have escalation and pass-through clauses.
Competition ' Praxair operates within a highly competitive environment. Some
of its competitors are larger in size and capital base than Praxair. Competition
is based on price, product quality, delivery, reliability, technology and service
to customers.
Major competitors in the industrial gases industry both in the United States
and worldwide include Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Airgas Inc., The BOC
Group p.l.c., L'Air Liquide S.A., The Messer Group and Linde AG. At a worldwide
level, there are no congruent competitors for the surface technologies business.
However, principal domestic competitors are Sermatech International, Inc., a
subsidiary of Teleflex, Inc., Chemtronics, Inc., a subsidiary of GKN p.l.c.
and Johnson Matthey Electronics, a subsidiary of Honeywell. International competitors
in surface technologies vary from country to country.