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Air Products and Chemicals to Expand Plant

Posted on: Thursday, 11 August 2005, 00:00 CDT

Aug. 10--Air Products and Chemicals will respond to growing demand for its liquefied natural gas equipment by again expanding its Wilkes-Barre, Pa., manufacturing plant.

The Trexlertown, Pa., gases and chemicals company said Tuesday it will add 51,000 square feet of manufacturing space, expanding the plant by 30 percent. It will also add up to 60 full-time manufacturing jobs, officials said. The plant employs about 250 people.

The new space will be completed this fall, the company said. When it is finished, Air Products will have expanded the plant's manufacturing capacity 100 percent since 2002, officials said.

The Wilkes-Barre plant makes equipment related to liquid natural gas conversion and transport. Its most visible products are heat exchangers, machines more than half the length of a football field that convert natural gas to very cold liquid. Air Products has designed and built more than 75 of the exchangers.

Air Products officials declined to say how much the latest expansion will cost.

The company said the expansion is not a response to the energy bill signed into law Monday by President Bush. That bill gave the federal government the power to decide where liquid natural gas facilities should be placed. Some believe that change will lead to more gas terminals built here, which would lead to more demand for liquid natural gas-related equipment.

Liquid natural gas takes up much less space than the gaseous form, making it easier to move and store. It is returned to gas form and piped to power plants, factories and households.

Air Products stock gained 63 cents a share on the New York Stock Exchange, closing at $60.98 in light trading volume.

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Source: The Morning Call, Allentown, Pennsylvania

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