The Linde Group installs first automated cylinder fill plant in Malaysia
Linde Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a member of Tier One player The Linde Group, has installed the first automated industrial gases cylinder filling plant in Malaysia.
Situated in Banting, the state-of-the-art facility is the first modular semi-automated filling plant in the Asia Pacific country and the first for Linde in the South Asia and ASEAN region.
The plant can fill over two million cylinders a year.
Under a MYR54m ($12.5m) investment, the state-of-the-art facility incorporates the latest in cylinder filling technology and innovation, industry-leading safety features and environment-friendly best practices.
It features a semi-automatic cylinder filling process that allows simultaneous filling of multiple racks, a shielding gases and gas mixtures filling system, and a built-in advanced filling tracking system that covers pressure and temperature monitoring and a quality control system to ensure product is traceable.
The plant can fill cylinders up to 300 bar and is fully compliant with ISO and European Industrial Gases Association (EIGA) standards.
Its modular design means that the cylinder filling plant allows for expansion of capacity to meet future market demands. Construction was completed as scheduled and within budget.
This development seeks to support the growing demand for industrial gases across all key growth industries in the region and reinforce Linde’s position in Malaysia.
Opportunities
Sanjiv Lamba, Chief Operating Officer for Asia Pacific and Member of the Executive Board of Linde AG, emphasised, “Linde continues to see growth opportunities in Asia. In the past two years alone, Linde has invested over MYR1bn ($231m) to further strengthen our leadership in the industrial gas industry and support our customers in their growth plans, while delivering sustainable and profitable growth.”
Connell Zhang, Managing Director, Linde Malaysia, added, “We are pleased to bring our global expertise and experience to support the development of the industrial gases market in Malaysia. Our Banting plant serves as a Centre of Excellence for the industrial gases industry in Malaysia.”
The sale of industrial gases through packaged methods is the largest revenue generator for the Malaysian market, totalling $225m in 2016. Linde is the largest industrial gas company operating in the country, with a market share of just over 45%, according to gasworld Business Intelligence.
Malaysia has been at the centre of the German corporation’s investment focus over the 12 months. In September 2016, Linde Malaysia’s joint venture with PETRONAS Gas Berhad secured a long-term gas supply agreement with the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC) in the South Pacific rim country. The deal will see the parties build two large air separation units (ASUs) and all associated gas facilities under a $168m investment.
In January 2017, Linde Malaysia subsidiary Linde EOX Sdn Bhd also commenced construction on its new $7.4m ASU in Tanjung Kidurong, East Malaysia. When combined with the company’s existing ASU in Kuching, the site will double Linde’s production capacity to approximately 66 tonnes per day (tpd) of liquefied gases.
Linde Malaysia’s automated industrial gases cylinder filling plant in Banting is a Centre of Excellence for the industrial gases industry. (From left) Linde Malaysia Sdn Bhd
Managing Director
Mr Connell Zhang; Linde Malaysia Sdn Bhd
Head Of Cylinder Supply Chain Management; Mr Jamil Helweh; Linde AG
Chief Operating Officer for Asia Pacific and Member of the Executive Board
Mr Sanjiv Lamba; Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI)
Second Minister
YB Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Chuan; InvestKL
