Air Liquide Electronics presents Awards to its top raw material suppliers for Electronic Specialty Gases

Electronic Specialty Gases (ESG) are used by semiconductor and flat panel manufacturers at various steps of their processes. These industries have extremely stringent requirements of ultra-high purity, reliability and competitiveness. A semiconductor facility typically consumes around 25 different molecules, which are often deposited directly at the heart of the chips.

Air Liquide Electronics is a leading ESG player worldwide, and ESG represent more than 25% of its sales. Air Liquide is committed to this fast-growing business through investments in new Electronics Materials Centers in Asia, successful development of new solutions for bulk supply (Jumbo offer), the manufacture of delivery equipment for ultra pure fluids in Europe and Asia. Moreover, Air Liquide Electronics sources its molecules worldwide, and especially in Asia, through a centralized organization based in Taipei, Taiwan. This centralization enables Air Liquide to maximize its purchasing power, thus enabling it to achieve lowest cost of ownership, while extreme care is given to safety and reliability of supply. For each molecule, Air Liquide selects each year a minimum of three suppliers, and deploys a supplier management program, with regular quality and safety audits, as well as continuous gathering and analyzing a statistical process control data.

Air Liquide Electronics is pleased to honor its best 2006 ESG raw materials suppliers:

• Best Safety Supplier Award: REC Group (Norway)
• Leading ESG Supplier Award: KANTO DENKA KOGYO Co. Ltd. (Japan)
• Best Service Supplier Award: SODIFF Advanced Materials Co. Ltd. (South Korea)
• Best New Supplier Award: Ulsan Chemical Co. Ltd. (South Korea).

During the presentation of Supplier Awards in Seoul, on January 31^st 2007, Christophe Fontaine, Vice-President Electronics of Air Liquide declared: “Building strong partnerships with competitive suppliers worldwide is key to our success in the electronics business. Together with our qualified raw materials suppliers, we continuously improve our offer and services to meet the highest Safety, Quality, Reliability and Environmental standards. This enables us to deliver the best to our customers.”

With 2,500 employees, Air Liquide Electronics recorded sales of almost 900 million euros in 2006. Air Liquide supplies ultra-pure gases, specialty gases, new molecules, related equipment and customized services. To enhance its proximity to the booming semiconductor market in Asia, the Electronics division management is based in Tokyo.