On August 22, Nippon Sanso Holdings announced that Matheson Tri-Gas of its American affiliate planned to build a new air separation unit (ASU) in Las Vegas, Nevada to reinforce its supply system over the area in which the demand for liquid gases is expanding. The ASU is planned to be completed in 2027. 

  Liquid gases to produce in the ASU will be oxygen, nitrogen and argon will be delivered in bulk to users by tank trucks. 

The production capacity and invested amount are not disclosed. The ASU will be mainly managed by Matheson Tri-Gas, selecting and procuring local vendors (distributors). Regarding the management, like the other ASUs in the US, it will be made remotely using the remote-control operation system provided in the headquarters of Matheson Tri-Gas.     

  As aforementioned, there is a background of this investment that the economy is growing in the “Sunbelt” area consisting of the South and Southwest states including Nevada of the construction site and neighboring states of California, Utah and Arizona that are blessed with the feature of warm climate.

According to Nippon Sanso Holdings, transference and integration of industries are now thriving in the area with the background of low energy price, inexpensive land and the right-to-work (labor union control law) circumstances. Growth is remarkable especially in the fields of healthcare, metalworking, construction and food processing. For the industrial gas field which has a wide customer base, it also will make a prospective market expanding demand. 

In the area Matheson Tri-Gas has ASUs in California and Arizona but has so far had no production base at any location in the inland states which are located more than 500km far from those places. In that respect, the ASU at this time is positioned as a strategic base related to the reinforcement air separation plant network in the US but also to an enhanced response to the demand in the Sunbelt area. The company aims to upgrade further in the US by reinforcing the supply system of specialty gas, nitrous oxide, dry ice, helium, HyCO (synthesis gas) and other gases in future.