Air Liquide has signed a new long-term contract to build a new air separation unit (ASU) for Maoming Petrochemical Co (MPCC), a subsidiary of China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) at Maoming City in in Guangdong Province. The new ASU, which is expected to be operated by the joint venture ALMPCC, founded by Air Liquide and MPCC in 2012, will supply both oxygen and nitrogen to MPCC’s ethylene oxide plants. The Sinopec subsidiary is one of China’s largest integrated energy and chemical companies.

France’s leading industrial gases player will invest some €40 million in the facility slated to start up in Q2 2017with capacity to produce 850 t/d of oxygen. The Chinese petrochemical producer’s decision to outsource its gases production to Air Liquide demonstrates its confidence in the French producer’s capability to provide innovative solutions and deliver safe operations, said François Venet, Air Liquide’s vice president for Asia Pacific.

The new agreement also illustrates the French player’s wish to develop its activities in China over the long term, Venet added. “ALMPCC has seen great successes in recent years. Through the new project, we expect ALMPCC to contribute more to the development of MPCC as well as to that of the local economy,” said Lu Weiqun, deputy manager of MPCC and vice chairman of the ALMPCC board.