Situation in Japan as at March 17, 2011

The Air Liquide Group expresses its support for and solidarity with the Japanese people who have been hard hit following the natural disaster that struck the country on March 11, and especially to its 2,700 employees based in Japan, all of whom are safe. The Japanese teams remain committed in ensuring operational continuity.

Moreover, Air Liquide is making a $1 million US dollars donation to the Japanese Red Cross to help those affected by this tragedy.

In this state of emergency, the crisis management team at the Group headquarters, under the direct leadership of the General Management, is monitoring the situation closely. It provides support to the Japanese management team and coordinates the action of all of Air Liquide’s entities in support of the Japanese teams.

The Group’s priority is to ensure the safety of its teams and to continue supplying its customers, particularly at this critical stage. Due to aftershocks, interruptions in the supply of electricity and difficult logistics, the Air Liquide Headquarters in Tokyo have been temporarily closed and the teams required to ensure operational continuity have been relocated to the Osaka region until further notice. In cooperation with the Japanese authorities, Air Liquide has put everything in place in the affected region to ensure the continuous delivery of critical supplies, such as oxygen destined for hospitals and homecare patients or nitrogen for the safety of certain industrial processes.

The majority of the Air Liquide’s sites and teams are located in the west and south of Japan, the most industrialized regions, and the production units there are currently operating at a sustained pace to meet the additional demands of our customers.