According to the report published by Research and Markets, the industrial gas market in the U.S. is forecast to grow by approximately 50% by 2016. The report titled, ‘Analyzing the Market for Industrial Gases in US 2012’, includes industry definition, global market for industrial gases, segmentation by markets for industrial gas as well as leading industry contributors.
Argon, nitrogen and oxygen are three major atmospheric gases used in steel production. Argon is largely used in stainless steel manufacturing and utilized as an element in fluorescent lighting. Nitrogen gas is employed in recycling tires and brewing beer and also for applying metallic coatings on toys. In addition, it is used to synthesize ammonia for application in urea, amines, hydrazine, nitric acid and fertilizers. Nitrogen also serves as an important component in the manufacturing of nitrous oxide or laughing gas, which is utilized as an anesthetic in certain surgeries.
Merchant gases are the largest part of the US industrial gases market and it accounts for 34% of the total value of the market. In the global industrial gases market, the U.S. accounts for 12.3% of the total market value. Some of the major producers of industrial gases are Air Liquide, Air Products & Chemicals, Airgas, Linde, Praxair and Taiyo Nippon Sanso.