In spite of global economic and political turmoil and a series of natural disasters, the global industrial gas market experienced rapid growth in 2011 driven by strong growth in emerging economies. In order to achieve long-term growth, in addition to increasing investment in emerging markets, giant companies have received special attention in new application fields such as hydrocracking and upgrading oil recovery.

The British industrial gas consulting company Srett estimates that the global industrial gas supply and related services market is expected to reach US$72 billion in 2011, a 9% increase over 2010. John Laquet, General Manager of Strate Consulting, stated: “The majority of industrial gas companies achieved strong growth in 2011, partly due to the increase in new construction projects, especially in emerging markets. Projects are mostly concentrated in China, India, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe."

Botian, chairman and chief executive of Air Liquide, said that in 2011, sales of industrial air and service in the developing economies increased by more than 20%, while sales in advanced economies only increased by 5%. In 2011, the company’s sales revenue in China increased by nearly 29%, and the entire Asia Pacific region increased by 12.5%.

Linde's Asia Pacific sales accounted for approximately 28% of the company's 2011 sales revenue. The company is currently building Thailand's largest air separation unit in Mata, Thailand, and is expected to complete production in 2013.

Strett Consulting expects that the global industrial gas market will grow at an annual rate of 7% to 7.5% in the next five years. Some industrial gas giants are investing more and investing mainly in emerging markets.

In 2011, the industrial investment for the French Air Liquide increased 21% from the previous year to 1.75 billion Euros, and 16 sets of production facilities were opened, of which 9 were located in developing economies. In 2012, Air Liquide plans to open 29 sets of industrial gas production facilities, 8 of which are located in China. Bofa, chairman of Air Liquide, said: "In 2011, the company announced a total project investment of 2 billion euros, of which more than 60% is located in developing economies."

Praxair plans to invest 2.1 billion to 2.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2012. Thales said that the new hydrogen plant will account for a large part of the investment, especially in North America. About 35% of the company's investment will be in North America, 35% to 40% in Asia, 15% to 20% in South America, and 5% to 10% in Europe. The investment in Europe is mainly in Russia, and Russia is the fifth largest steel producer in the world.

U.S. Air Products Corporation expects the investment in 2012 to be between 1.9 billion and 2.2 billion U.S. dollars, a substantial increase of 20% to 40% over 2011. In addition to continued optimism for emerging markets, more and more industrial gas companies are betting on the long-term growth of their business in energy applications.

John Campbell, president of Industrial Gas Consulting USA, stated: “In all major industrial gas applications, hydrogen has the fastest growth rate.” Hydrogen is used in refining and other energy production fields, including hydrocracking and hydrodealkylation. Refinery processes require large amounts of hydrogen to extract the gasoline, diesel and petrochemical products needed for the market.

Energy applications, emerging markets and environmental applications are the three major growth strategies of Praxair. Scott Thales, executive vice president of the company, said that the hydrogen business in energy applications has become the main driver of the company's growth. The growth in refining capacity and the increase in the demand for refined crude oil are stimulating the rapid growth of the hydrogen market. At the same time, Praxair is seeking to explore other applications for industrial gases, including water treatment and energy efficiency improvements.

Laquet said: " Industrial Gas has already been involved in some challenging environmental applications and has achieved very good results." Increasing oil recovery is another rapidly growing energy application for industrial gases. A joint venture between Linde and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company opened two large-scale air separation plants in Mirfa, Abu Dhabi, in 2011, producing nitrogen gas for injection into onshore gas fields to increase natural gas recovery. The investment is about 800 million U.S. dollars.

Like other industrial gas companies, Air Products is also betting on energy and emerging markets. McGrad said: "The company's business is benefiting from the rapid growth of demand in major end markets, such as oil refining, coal gasification, steel and metal processing."

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