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Air Liquide Severstal Launches Production Unit at Cherepovets

09/07/2007 - Air Liquide Severstal starts up a new air separation unit at Severstal’s Cherepovets steel complex - the biggest gas unit in Russia.

Air Liquide Severstal has just launched the largest gas production unit in Russia.
 
Air Liquide Severstal—a joint venture created in 2005 between Air Liquide and steel producer Severstal—has been set up within Severstal’s Cherepovets steel complex, which is situated between Moscow and St Petersburg. With a daily production capacity of 3,000 tonnes of oxygen, it is the biggest gas unit in Russia and the largest air separation unit in the world that is dedicated to the steel industry.
 
Although the new facility’s top priority will be to supply the Severstal steel mill with high-purity oxygen, nitrogen, and argon, it will also provide liquid oxygen, nitrogen, and argon to the Russian industrial market.
 
The Air Liquide Engineering Department designed and assembled the production unit was at Cherepovets with qualified Russian subcontractors. The unit will allow Severstal to increase its production of very high quality steel, in particular for the car industry.
 
“The start-up of this new air separation unit is a major stage in the development of our large-scale investment program”, emphasized Anatoly Kruchinin, a member of the JSC Severstal Administration Board and Managing Director of Severstal. “It will allow us to increase our production of steel on this site to 9.5 million tonnes. We are very satisfied with our partnership with Air Liquide for the construction of a new industrial production unit and we intend to continue it within the framework of our joint venture Air Liquide Severstal”.
 
The production unit is equipped with Air Liquide technology that allows reduced energy consumption. The reduction will contribute to the fight against global warming by saving 50,000 tonnes of CO2, emissions each year—the equivalent of the total CO2 emissions of a town of 10,000 inhabitants.
 
To illustrate its involvement in and contribution towards a sustainable environment, on the day of the launch, Air Liquide Severstal symbolically planted 100 trees on the Cherepovets site.
 
Incorporated in 1993, SeverStal, an international steel producer, focuses on high value-added and unique niche products. The company also has a successful track record of acquiring and integrating high-quality assets in North America and Europe. SeverStal owns mining assets in Russia, thus securing its supplies of raw materials. In July 2007 the company had a market capitalization of $16.1bn.
 
With more than 38,000 employees in 72 countries, Air Liquide is a world leader in industrial and medical gases and related services. The Group offers innovative solutions based on constantly enhanced technologies and produces industrial gases. Founded in 1902, Air Liquide has successfully developed a long-term relationship with its shareholders built on trust and transparency and guided by the principles of corporate governance. The company is committed to sustainable development and helps to protect life.
 
Created in 2005, Air Liquide Severstal is a joint venture in which Air Liquide holds 75% and Severstal 25%. Its air separation unit will be operated primarily to satisfy the growing oxygen demand of the Severstal steel producing site at Cherepovets.