Air Products opens plant in China for LCD panel fab of HKC Optoelectronics

The fab will fuel Chongqing's ambition of becoming a Yuan 100-billion LCD production base by 2020

Last Updated : Apr 28 2017 | 4:10 PM IST

Industrial gases company Air Products has started a new plant in Chongqing City (China) to supply TFT-LCD (thin-film transistor liquid crystal display) fab of HKC Optoelectronics Technology Co, which is a subsidiary of the domestic display leader Huike Electronics (Shenzhen) Co Ltd.

The new project represents another investment by the company to serve the fast-paced development of the country’s electronics manufacturing industry. It also further strengthens Air Products’ market position in western China, particularly Chongqing, which is a fast emerging, key production base for high-technology industries.

The fab, located in the Banan Jieshi IT Industrial Park, is the largest investment in the Banan District and will fuel Chongqing’s ambition of becoming a Yuan 100-billion LCD production base by 2020 under the ‘Made in China 2025’ strategy.

Air Products’ high-quality bulk gases, including high-purity nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, argon and helium, are being used for its production of 8.6 generation TFT-LCD panels.

“As a leading industrial gases supplier to the global electronics industry for over 40 years, Air Products is honoured to have been selected to support this strategic electronics project. The new plant further expands our capacity to meet the growing needs in Chongqing and western China with the region taking off as a major high-technology manufacturing base in the country,” said Saw Choon Seong, China president, industrial gases at Air Products.

Amid the government’s ‘Go West’ drive that today targets to develop high value-added and innovation-driven industries, Chongqing and other big cities in western China, such as Xi’an and Chengdu, have been attracting investment by global and domestic players from the science and high-technology sectors. Key integrated circuit (IC), display panel and high-end equipment manufacturing clusters have emerged, including the Banan District, which shows huge growth potential. To support the region’s industrial development, Air Products has been investing in building and strengthening its local production capability and supply position.

Air Products has been serving many world-leading and domestic manufacturers in the development of next generation electronics devices. In Xian, it is supplying one of China’s most advanced fabs, which is owned and operated by a leading global semiconductor company, and also the local merchant gas market. Air Products also announced further investment in the Nanjing Pukou Economic Development Zone in eastern China last year and the Fujian (Jinjiang) Integrated Circuit Industrial Park in southern China to serve the increasing gas demands from the IC and other industries.

In western China, Air Products has been supporting the development of the local electronics, energy and many other industries. It has built more than a dozen world-class air separation units (ASU) for significant energy projects in the country, including the largest on-site ASU order ever awarded to an industrial gases company.