On July 2 Nippon Ekitan announced that it would raise the price of products sold as of July. The current sales prices of liquid carbon dioxide, cylinder carbon dioxide (including LGC), and sterilization gas based on carbon dioxide would be raised. This is the first price revision for liquid carbon dioxide since 2008 and the first price revision for dry ice since 2005.

Regarding the range of the price revision, liquid carbon dioxide supplied by tank truck was raised by 7%, while carbon dioxide supplied by cylinder was raised by 10%. Dry ice was also raised by 7%. The price of sterilization gas was raised by 10% as of July.

The carbon dioxide industry is already approaching the summer demand period. During the past few years, however, crude carbon dioxide gas has been suffering due to a worsening in the operational ratios of the hydrogen generation facilities as oil producers reduced the amount of oil refined. In addition, there has been a severe shortage of crude carbon dioxide gas from the ammonia production process too which is continuing to be reduced. In the summer the industry overall has been importing about 10,000 tons of dry ice from Korea. Last year the company, affected also by the earthquake, had difficulty getting hold of crude carbon dioxide gas, even with an expansion of facilities and imported about 3,000 tons of dry ice.

The decrease in the amount of crude carbon dioxide and the shortage means that the company was pressed to procure liquid carbon dioxide, which is their product, from afar, and transporting it over a wide area was also required, all of which led to an increase in transportation costs. This has put pressure on operational profit. According to a spokesman from the company, in the last season liquid carbon dioxide gas distributed through distant intermediate companies increased by 22,000 tons and “The situation is such that we have exceeded the range we could absorb this with our own effort.”