BIG and WHA Industrial Development Establish Joint Venture for the Production and Distribution of Industrial Gas

The new JV company will initially build a gas-generation plant and a pipeline in the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate (ESIE) to provide its customers with nitrogen. Longer term, JV will expand its product portfolio and to other WHA Industrial Estates in Thailand.

Bangkok, 27 August 2020 – Bangkok Industrial Gas Co., Ltd. (BIG), Thailand Innovative Industrial Gas Solutions, and WHA Industrial Development PLC. (WHAID), the country’s leading developer of industrial estates, announced today the establishment of a joint-venture company named BIG WHA Industrial Gas Company Limited. BIG will hold 51% and WHAID 49% of equity shares.

In a first stage, the joint venture company will build a gas-generation plant with a pipeline to provide its customers with nitrogen in the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate (ESIE) and adjacent WHA Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate 1 (WHA ESIE 1), home to Thailand’s automotive cluster. The Commercial Operation Date (COD) is expected to take place in the first half of 2022. Production and distribution via pipeline of oxygen, or other industrial gases will subsequently be added to the JV product portfolio. In addition, from a geographical expansion perspective, JV company will grow to include other WHA industrial estates in Chonburi and Rayong provinces.

“We are delighted to form this JV company with WHAID. It will enable us to serve customers initially in ESIE and WHA ESIE 1, and at a later stage, in other WHA Industrial Estates, in an efficient and reliable manner. The pipeline solution will be a significant improvement compared to delivery by trucks” said Mr. Piyabut Charuphen, Managing Director of Bangkok Industrial Gas Co., Ltd. “Our innovative industrial gas production and pipeline network distribution, monitored digitally, will not only increase reliability in the transmission of gas, but will also help manage costs more efficiently than trucks. We are confident that BIG’s digital innovation and technology in industrial gas will sustainably enhance the growth of Thailand’s EEC project”, Mr. Piyabut Charuphen added.

“This new Joint-Venture is in line with our concept of “Smart Eco Industrial Estates” and our strategy to develop win-win partnerships with industrial experts for the benefit of our customers” said Mr. David Nardone, Group Executive Industrial and International, WHA Industrial Development Plc. “We share with BIG the common objective to offer new value-added products and services or to improve existing ones. This JV is a perfect example of what we can do to improve the supply and distribution of industrial gas in our industrial estates” he concluded.

Industrial gas is used in a wide range of industries, such as automotive, electronics, petroleum and petrochemical, steel and metal, glasses, food and beverage, and medical gas, etc.