Messer invests $40 million to expand industrial gas capacity in northern Vietnam

en.Wedoany.com Reported - German industrial gas giant Messer announced on August 20 that it will invest approximately $40 million in two expansion projects in Thai Nguyen Province, northern Vietnam, adding 900 tons of daily liquefied gas capacity to meet the rapidly growing demand from the region's electronics and semiconductor manufacturing sectors.

Both projects will be carried out within Messer's existing facilities. The new air separation unit (ASU) at An Binh Industrial Park will have a daily capacity of 600 tons, producing nitrogen, oxygen, and argon; the nitrogen liquefier at the existing Cong River facility will have a daily capacity of 300 tons.Together, the two projects will increase Messer's total liquefied gas capacity in northern Vietnam from approximately 1,100 tons per day to 2,000 tons per day.

The nitrogen liquefier is scheduled to commence operations first in mid-2027, with the air separation unit expected to go online by the end of 2027.The new capacity will primarily secure the supply of liquid nitrogen—a critical consumable in semiconductor wafer processing, inert atmosphere protection, and contaminant control processes.

Northern Vietnam is rapidly emerging as a semiconductor manufacturing hub in Southeast Asia. According to gasworld, the neighboring Bac Ninh Province has attracted 33 semiconductor-related projects with a total investment of $2.74 billion.The electronics industry currently accounts for approximately $165 billion, or 41%, of Vietnam's total export value.The Vietnamese government is also advancing the upgrade of its domestic semiconductor supply chain, having broken ground on the country's first integrated semiconductor production facility this year, and has set targets of training 50,000 chip design engineers by 2030 and exceeding 100,000 industry professionals by 2040.

Messer CEO Peter Mohnen stated that this strategic investment underscores the group's commitment to long-term growth in Southeast Asia and will further consolidate its leading position in Vietnam's industrial gas supply sector.Adrien Rameaux, General Director of Messer Vietnam, noted that Vietnam remains one of the most promising industrial markets in Southeast Asia, and the capacity expansion will strengthen the company's ability to serve customers in high-growth industries.

Messer is the world's largest privately owned industrial gas company. It entered the Vietnamese market in 1997 and has accumulated total investments exceeding $600 million.According to gasworld Intelligence data, Messer currently ranks first in Vietnam's industrial gas output with a 35% market share, far ahead of Phu My Hung (18%) and Nippon Sanso (11%).In July this year, Messer also announced plans to invest $37 million in a new industrial gas plant in Ho Chi Minh City, with operations expected to commence by the end of 2028.