Yingde Gases has recently approved a project to construct a merchant Air Separation Unit (ASU) at the UMW High-Value Industrial Park in central Malaysia. This is the first merchant project invested by Yingde Gases in Southeast Asia through its wholly-owned subsidiary, NovaAir Industrial Gases Sdn. Bhd. (hereinafter referred to as “NovaAir”). This undertaking is another major breakthrough in the company's expansion following its investment in the Indian market in 2019 and the Southeast Asian market after it acquired a Singaporean gas company, Smart Gas in 2022. The project is expected to be on-stream by the fourth quarter of 2024, whereby it primarily serves the Malaysian market in addition to its neighbouring countries.

NovaAir will invest 100 million Ringgit (approximately 146 million Renminbi) to construct a merchant plant to produce liquid nitrogen, oxygen and argon. The plant will also be able to produce high-purity oxygen to fulfil the latest photovoltaic production technology requirement. Additionally, the project will be implemented by a core team comprising members from Yingde Gases and NovaAir, who will be responsible for the project execution, operations management, product sales and marketing. Overall, the project will bring more industrial gas supply options to the Malaysian manufacturing industries upon completion. In addition, it will promote Southeast Asia as one of the most important hubs for high-tech manufacturing with rare gases and high-purity oxygen.

The proximity of NovaAir's plant to the major industrial estates and manufacturing hubs in central Malaysia and Port Klang provides easy access and logistics to support gas demand across the peninsula of Malaysia effectively. Likewise, potential gas users in the new UMW industrial park will also benefit. Due to high product demand in the market, NovaAir has pre-sold part of its capacities, which reflects the urgent need of the fast-growing manufacturing industry for capable gas producers to assist in upgrading their manufacturing processes and transforming production technology.

Malaysia is Southeast Asia's third-largest merchant air gas market, selling more than 2,500 tons per day. These gases are used in general manufacturing processes, semiconductors and photovoltaic industries, food processing, petrochemical and chemical industries, and medical and steel manufacturing. Moving forward, NovaAir is working on a few more projects in Malaysia and the region, including small to large-scale gas supply through pipeline, micro-bulk, as well as compressed and rare gases. Leveraging Group's capacity and strong supply chain, NovaAir aims to provide customers with a one-stop solution for all their industrial gas requirements. 

Charlene Quek, President of NovaAir Industrial Gases Sdn. Bhd. said, "Southeast Asia is an important market for the company's international strategy. We will continue to explore more market opportunities to create a replicable and successful operation model in the EPCC and O&M space for future overseas projects to provide customers with high-quality, high-efficiency and reliable industrial gas supplies".

Steven Fang, Chief Executive Officer of Yingde Gases, expressed, "Yingde Gases has a long history of making high-quality investments to support the sustainable development of domestic and overseas industries. We are proud of this breakthrough in the company's globalization development, and the new project will make in-road to Southeast Asia a strategic and critical marketplace of the global manufacturing industry supply chain. We are committed to empowering the world's industries with innovative, sustainable gas solutions and collaborating with our customers for a win-win future".

Source: Yingde Gases