Industrial Gas Makers Up Prices As Electrical Power Costs Rise.

Chemical Market Reporter, June, 1999 by BROWN, ROBERT

IN WHAT IS BECOMING a seasonal occurrence, industrial gas producers are raising the prices of many of their products. Several producers cite higher power costs as one of the main culprits for the increase. Other factors include growing demand and an effort to comply with Food and Drug Administration regulations on specific products.

Electricity accounts for nearly 70 percent of industrial gas companies' production costs. Last summer, an extended heat wave m the South and Midwest lead to record-breaking demands for electricity. The heat, coupled with severe storms that knocked down transmission lines and the shuttering of power plants for maintenance, boosted wholesale electricity prices to more than 1,000 times their normal value. Industrial gas producers...

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