Investing for growth in the USA through major strategic expansions

Published on April 09, 2026

4 minutes

With three major projects announced in 2025, totaling more than 300 million U.S. dollars, Air Liquide is scaling up its production and pipeline infrastructure in the USA. These investments expand hydrogen and air gases capacities along the U.S. Gulf Coast, while leveraging its established assets efficiently. They secure ultra reliable supply for a new generation of semiconductor fabs in the Southeast, positioning the Group as the partner of choice in this dynamic market.

Reinforcing hydrogen leadership on the U.S. Gulf Coast

On the U.S. Gulf Coast, Air Liquide is investing close to 50 million U.S. dollars to strengthen its hydrogen network and support new long-term supply agreements with two of the largest refiners in the country. The Group will optimize its existing hydrogen infrastructure in Texas, upgrading its pipeline system and adding new compression and distribution equipment directly integrated into the current network. This targeted approach allows Air Liquide to increase supply capacity and flexibility while limiting greenfield development and maximizing the value of assets already in operation.

The network is connected to the world's largest hydrogen storage cavern in Spindletop, Texas, owned and operated by Air Liquide. This unique infrastructure gives the Group a competitive advantage to serve the high and growing hydrogen needs of refineries and petrochemical plants in the basin, including for processes such as hydrocracking and desulfurization. By reinforcing this backbone, Air Liquide offers customers greater supply security and responsiveness – increasingly critical factors as they adapt to new market expectations and evolving regulatory requirements.

Supporting the U.S. semiconductor boom

In the southeastern U.S., Air Liquide is investing more than 50 million U.S. dollars to build a new gas production plant on the site of one of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers. The facility will produce large volumes of ultra-pure nitrogen and oxygen, two molecules that are essential for advanced chip manufacturing steps that must meet extremely stringent purity requirements.

Designed, built and operated by Air Liquide, this state-of-the-art unit is scheduled to start operations by the end of 2027, in line with the ramp up of new fab capacities in the region. By locating the plant on the customer's site, the Group can provide a highly reliable, continuous supply of ultra-pure gases and optimize production and logistics, with its teams working at the heart of the customer's operations.

This investment builds on over three decades of successful collaboration between Air Liquide and the U.S. semiconductor industry. It also responds directly to the strong growth of the national market, in a context shaped by public policies such as the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act and by rising demand for chips in digital technologies, artificial intelligence and electric mobility.

Expanding our industrial infrastructure in Louisiana

In Taft, Air Liquide is committing up to 200 million U.S. dollars to upgrade an Air Separation Unit (ASU). The project will include linking to its existing network and extending its pipeline by about 30 miles along the Gulf Coast. This investment accompanies the renewal of a long-term contract with Dow at the St. Charles Operations site, where Air Liquide will continue providing oxygen and nitrogen. The upgraded ASU, now more tightly connected to the Mississippi River pipeline system, will make gas production and delivery more efficient for Dow and other industrial customers in the area.

This network reinforcement also supports the expansion of new assets in the state, including the recently inaugurated Large Modular Air Separation (LMA) facility in Geismar, which supplies oxygen, nitrogen and argon to industrial customers along the Mississippi River. By expanding its robust industrial pipeline network throughout Texas and Louisiana, Air Liquide can serve a broader portfolio of customers, provide more options to balance loadings and secure supply, and create a platform for future growth.

Strengthen our American foothold

Together, these projects demonstrate how Air Liquide translates long-term market trends into concrete action. By expanding hydrogen and air gases capacity, densifying pipeline networks, and embedding operations close to customers' most critical assets, the Group is strengthening its industrial platform in the USA.

These investments enhance flexibility, operational performance and supply security across key industrial basins. They align with the broader reshoring and friend-shoring momentum reshaping USA. industrial activity, as manufacturers return production capacity to the country. They also illustrate Air Liquide's ability to capture opportunities by leveraging existing infrastructure and long-standing customer relationships.

As a result, the USA continues to play a central role in Air Liquide's Americas footprint – both as a driver of near-term growth and as a foundation for long-term value creation in strategically critical industries.

  • $200M committed to upgrade and expand Air Liquide's industrial infrastructure in Louisiana

  • +$50M invested to support the semiconductor boom in the Southeastern U.S.