Air Liquide invests €200M in Japan to support chip manufacturer

French company Air Liquide will build, own and operate two new state-of-the-art industrial gas production units in Hiroshima, Japan, to support the expansion of a leading semiconductor manufacturer, under a new long-term agreement.

With a total investment of EUR 200 million, these facilities will provide the industrial gases essential to produce cutting-edge chips, which are crucial to AI technologies, Air Liquide said in a press release.  

Set to begin operations by the end of 2028, Air Liquide’s production units will deliver large volumes of ultra-pure nitrogen, oxygen and argon to support the production of advanced chips.  

Air Liquide has been a major supplier to the Japanese semiconductor industry for over 40 years, with 78 facilities dedicated to Electronics activities, including one Advanced Materials Center in Tsukuba.  

“This new facility highlights Air Liquide’s ability to keep pace with our semiconductor customers’ rapid expansion and new investments to develop the next-generation chips which fuel technologies like AI,” Ronnie Chalmers, Air Liquide Group Vice President, in charge of supervising operations in Asia-Pacific, said. “Japan has been a powerhouse in the semiconductor industry since the 1980s and remains a global technology leader today. Across the country, our experts deliver the high-tech solutions essential to meet the most rigorous standards of our customers in terms of quality, safety and reliability.”