James Alexander Stewart's questions to L AIR LIQUIDE SA /FI (AIQUY) leadership • Q3 2021
Question
James Alexander Stewart questioned the merchant business volume growth, pointing out that his calculations suggested a slowdown in Europe and minimal improvement in the Americas relative to 2019 levels, which seems at odds with strong industrial production.
Answer
Executive VP Francois Jackow clarified that European Industrial Merchant volume growth was actually above 6%, with the reported figure being negatively impacted by small divestitures. Executive VP Michael J. Graff explained that Americas growth was constrained by customer supply chain and labor issues, and that Air Liquide had to shift some production from industrial gases to medical oxygen to meet high demand, which impacted industrial volumes.