News

Airgas acquires a specialty products business
Airgas Inc. (www.airgas.com) acquired CFC Refimax LLC (www.refimax.com), a refrigerants supplier and reclamation company based in Smyrna, Ga.

CFC Refimax has about 50 employees, and generated sales of approximately $21 million in 2006.

Effective January 1, 2007, Refimax was integrated into Airgas Specialty Products, a distributor of ammonia products and services, process chemicals and refrigerants. Airgas Specialty Products is part of Airgas Inc.'s Gas Operations Division, which also includes Airgas Carbonic and Dry Ice, and Airgas Nitrous Oxide.

Airgas acquired Refimax as part of its strategy to expand its refrigerants business. Refimax has worked with Airgas regional companies over the past few years to help Airgas develop and expand its refrigerant product and service offerings to customers, said Chuck Broadus, president of Airgas Specialty Products.

Refimax was established in 1992 to meet the need for refrigerant distribution, recovery, and reclamation. It has operations in Atlanta and Houston, and five, third-party distribution warehouse locations in York, Pa.; Reno, Nev.; Indianapolis, Ind.; New Orleans, La.; and Dallas, Texas.

Sherwood increases prices
Sherwood, a manufacturer of gas valves for the compressed gas industry and a division of Harsco GasServe (www.harsco.com), increased prices for its line of specialty gas products, effective January 15, 2007.

In its announcement, the company said rising prices for raw materials, including zinc and nickel, and the impact of sustained higher costs for energy and freight, were the reasons for the increases.

Sherwood says it continues to seek ways to manage its business to minimize the impact of rising commodity prices, and says it is making productivity enhancements by investing in manufacturing process improvements and cost reduction initiatives.

Praxair acquires Blue Rhino assets in Canada
Praxair Distribution (www.praxair.com), a division of Praxair Canada Inc., acquired in early January the propane tank exchange business of Blue Rhino (www.bluerhino.com) in Canada.

Praxair acquired more than 900 propane tank-exchange display cages at retail locations across Canada. In addition, it will take over the contract to supply and exchange 20-pound propane tanks through more than 300 retail gasoline stations owned by Shell Canada Products (www.shell.ca/).

In conjunction with this transaction, Praxair also signed a distributor agreement with Superior Tank Inc. (superiortankinc.com) Superior Tank will serve Praxair's propane tank-exchange customers in the Atlantic Provinces.

Previously, Praxair provided propane tank filling and distribution services for Blue Rhino retailers in six Canadian provinces. Now, the company will fill the tanks and market propane tank-exchange under its own trademark, PropaneQuikSwap, in 10 provinces across Canada.

"With six propane fill plants serving Canada, we are uniquely positioned to service the 20-pound propane tank-exchange market," said Pat Heffernan, vice president and general manager Canada, for Praxair Distribution.

Linde to market and distribute fuel cell power plants
Linde Group (www.linde.com) said in early January it made a non-exclusive agreement to market and distribute FuelCell Energy Inc.'s (www.fce.com) Direct FuelCell power plants worldwide, except where FuelCell Energy has already granted exclusive distribution rights

Initially, Linde will focus on North American markets that fit its strategy of developing sustainable energy solutions and providing low-carbon distributed generation solutions to industrial, commercial and government sectors.

In the United States, Linde plans to market the fuel cell power plants that operate on biogas.

Direct FuelCell power plants can operate on any hydrocarbon fuel, including ethanol, a gas that is generated in the treatment of wastewater and other biofuels.