The industrial gas market finds itself in a situation in which trends toward recovery are mixed with slumps. For example, for the automotive field, the Tohoku and Kyushu Areas are doing well, while the Tokai Area is sluggish. For electric furnaces, in the Tohoku, and North Kanto Areas the operational ratios are improving, but they are sluggish in Western Japan. For semiconductors, things are clearly looking good in the West but bad in the East. Even for companies in the same field, some production lines are doing well and others are doing poorly.

What lies behind this is whether or not there are the end user capital investment and related civil engineering and construction going on in regional areas. There are differences in the situation concerning the operational ratios of plants and production lines, depending on where the products are sold. Due to all of this, trends directly linked to the demand for gas have been gathering strength. For example, when it comes to cars, products which are very easy on the environment and have good fuel consumption such as hybrid and light weight cars are popular. For electric furnaces, the demand has been recovering at high level for products related to the recovery from the earthquake in the Tohoku Area such as rods and H beam steel. In petrochemical sector, ethylene plant has been active in operation and demand for industrial gas also has been increasing there.

Regarding demand for industrial gas for welding use and welding related material, it has been picking up for cutting gas, laser gas, and carbon dioxide for welding use in construction sector, and picking up also for mixed gas for welding, argon, hydrogen for surface treatment, nitrogen, ammonia, and welding wire in automotive sector.

The cycle for the demand for products is fast paced, and the market is also characterized by the fact that how long the good showing will last is hard to discern. The actual situation is such that shorter delivery times are the keynote right now, and at present there is no longer any leeway left over regarding production plans on the part of the users. In contrast, the shifting of production overseas is still going on. More than ever, gas suppliers are searching for the skills which will enable them to get through the rough seas they are facing.