IGL’s Gas World to double oxygen production capacity

Gas World Ltd. (GWL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Industrial Gases Ltd. (IGL), has announced plans to add yet another ASU plant to increase the medical and industrial oxygen production capacity.

It was only in the third week of April that GWL commissioned its third plant, boosting production capacity to almost 38 tons per day.

The commissioning of this plant was long delayed due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in China from November 2019 till end 2020.

Industrial Gases and Gas World Chairman Sumith Guruge said: “This was a part of our normal capacity expansion based on pre-COVID-19 economic conditions. Fortunately, this plant was commissioned in April 2021, enabling local production capacity to meet the bulk of Sri Lanka’s health sector needs during the early days of the third wave of the pandemic. This enabled the company to increase its supply of oxygen to the health and industrial sectors from around 10 to 40 tons per day.”

Guruge is confident in having the new plant up and running within a few months as opposed to the usual time taken to commission such a plant.

“We have maintained our prices to the health sector stable throughout the pandemic and with the commissioning of the fourth plant, Gas World will double its oxygen and nitrogen output. With a vibrant vaccination program and other health safety measures in place, we are confident that the pandemic would fade away sooner than expected, enabling the local industries such as construction, production-related, Port City development etc. to experience a considerable boost,” Gamage said.

He said as a responsible and a reliable partner in progress, the company’s goal was to be prepared for such an exponential growth to ensure an uninterrupted supply of gases without any adverse impact on national development.

When asked about over capacity in a post-pandemic environment Chairman Guruge said: “We are looking at the broader goals of our industry. We must provide uninterrupted supply to all our customers, not only the health sector but all of the industries we supply, from ship building to food processing and even our neighbourhood welding plants. Any investor will be able to access our industrial gas without an interruption. Hopefully, we will be able to provide more in-plant oxygen supply to more hospitals.” 

Industrial Gases was established in the year 1992, and subsequently in 1997, was taken over by ‘Messer Industrial Gases Ltd.’, part of Messer GmbH of Germany, a pioneer in the industrial gases business globally, which was again taken over by Guruge, the local partner.

With the ownership change in 2007, Industrial Gases continued to increase its market presence in Sri Lanka. The company is a major supplier of industrial oxygen, acetylene, carbon dioxide and nitrogen, servicing many industrial sectors, including manufacturing, steel fabrication, construction, seafood processing, milk, and food packaging etc.

Gas World was formed in 2011, mainly for the supply of medical gases to the health sector. The company provides the health sector with ‘on site’ high-capacity tanks with piping for bedside delivery as well as portable refill tanks and cylinders. Gas World also caters to the increasing demand of oxygen gas filled mini cylinders for domestic healthcare services.