Thai industrial gas producers expect higher sales
The largest industrial gas producer in Thailand is encouraged by signs that business is getting back to normal. Bangkok Industrial Gas (BIG) reported that demand dropped significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic. But now the company says that sales are even higher than they were pre-Covid.
BIG estimates that its sales next year will grow by 5-6%, reports the Bangkok Post. The managing director of Bangkok Industrial Gas described how sales dropped by around 8% last year during the pandemic, from 3,900 tonnes sold per day in 2019 to 3,600 tonnes in 2020. But they are now are averaging 4,200 tonnes per day, higher than they were before the pandemic. The company manufactures and sells oxygen, nitrogen, argon and hydrogen for industrial purposes.
The director explained that sales dropped across the manufacturing sector during the pandemic because the economy was in decline, and people were not buying as many products. But ever since the lockdown ended and Covid measures were eased, people started buying manufactured products again and demand suddenly skyrocketed.
Gas supply is projected to increase significantly, as well. According to the Post BIG invested in a production facility that is projected to be able to produce 450,000 tonnes of gas per year, which would account for 40% of their annual production. This facility will employ a method that reuses leftover water from the liquified natural gas regasification process. This is also an environmentally friendly way to produce gas, and BIG estimates that this method will result in reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 28,000 tonnes per year.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
