In 2023 Messer put two large-scale ASUs into operation respectively in southern China’s Guangdong province and central China’s Chongqing City. The new ASU in Guangdong with a capacity of 1200tpd is the largest liquid ASU of Messer in China. In Chongqing City, the new ASU has a capacity of 44,000 Nm³/h and the internal liquefier can bring 880tpd of liquid. These two new facilities will further strengthen Messer’s position in the local markets and support Messer to meet more customers’ demands and to explore new markets. In 2023 Messer accelerated the investment in hydrogen production in China. Two hydrogen plants, both with a capacity of 1,000 Nm3/h, were on stream respectively in the province of Chengdu and Anhui. The Anhui plant is using steam methane cracking to produce hydrogen while the Sichuan plant is using water electrolysis process. In addition, the construction of a new hydrogen plant, which uses the steam methane cracking process, was started in China’s Hunan province in 2023, and this will bring the market 2000 Nm³/h of hydrogen in the future. In China hydrogen is greatly demanded as a reducing gas in the production of cemented carbide.

Messer has further expanded its market position in specialty gases in China with the official start of production at the newly built plant for electronic specialty gases in Chuzhou. The inauguration ceremony for the new site took place on June 27, 2023. 
Messer now has seven specialty gases plants in China in the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Guangdong, Sichuan and Yunnan, including three plants for electronic specialty gases.
The new plant in Chuzhou can produce sixty different high-purity and ultra-high-purity electronic gases as well as various gas mixtures and excimer laser gases. This product portfolio covers the majority of gas applications in the electronics industry. 

At the end of 2023 Messer commissioned a nitrous oxide plant successfully in Vietnam at the site in Haiphong. The new plant represents Messer’s first specialty gas plant in Vietnam and will produce 100 kg/h of nitrous oxide of high purity >99.9995% to supply to the customers in the electronics field. It’s just the first phase of the whole project, phase II will see a double in the capacity by the end of 2024. 

In their partnership, Messer Austria and Donau Chemie have decided to make the production of basic inorganic chemicals more environmentally friendly. For this purpose, the CO₂ generated during the production of calcium carbide at Landeck site is taken over by Messer Austria and purified for further industrial use. Through this cooperation, the annual CO₂ shortage on the gas market, which is particularly due to the significantly reduced production of ammonia in Europe, which also produces CO₂, can be optimally bridged in the summer months.
Messer Polska is investing around EUR 12 million in a CO₂ production plant in northern Wielkopolska. The raw material for production will come from renewable sources. The primary aim of the investment is to increase the production capacity and adapt it to the company’s demand. Importantly, this investment will allow the company to start producing 'green' CO₂ and to optimize transport and thus reduce its carbon footprint.
In November 2021 Messer Technogas signed a package of contracts with the company Ethanol Energy in Vrdy (EEV) pertaining to the construction of a new liquid carbon dioxide (LCO₂) production plant in said locality. Messer Technogas and Ethanol Energy have joined forces to recycle the raw CO₂ generated as a by-product of the bioethanol facility in Vrdy into a pure, commercial-grade liquid product for use, inter alia, in the food industry. The capacity of the plant will amount to 39,000 tons of LCO₂ per year. The start of operation is planned in 05/2024. With its own production facility Messer Technogas will eliminate its dependence on competitors’ plants on imported LCO₂.
At the beginning of 2024 Messer Tehnogas commissioned a CO₂ plant in Rusanda, Serbia. This plant ensures the full supply to our local market. Significant storage guarantees uninterrupted supply of our customers. The plant is designed for a maximum of energy efficiency and sustainability. In our pursuit of eco-friendliness, all wastewater undergoes meticulous treatment in a dedicated facility, ensuring its safe return to the environment. With each innovation we reaffirm our pledge to a greener future.

The new investment, worth 60 million euros, is the fifth plant for the production of industrial and medical gases that Messer has built in Spain in its 53 years of operation. The investment includes the construction of the new plant, the modernization of Messer’s existing production facilities in Vila-seca and a new substation for the power supply. With a daily production of 2,600 tons of oxygen, nitrogen and argon, the air separation unit (ASU) is one of the largest and most modern plants of its kind in Europe. 

Together with the other production plants and emergency supply systems, the new ASU is connected to Messer’s own pipeline network of more than 90 km in length, which Messer operates to ensure the current and future supply of oxygen and nitrogen to the chemical industry in Tarragona. This investment makes Messer the largest producer of air gases in Catalonia with a daily production of 4,500 tons.

Messer built a new air separation plant in Bor, Serbia, to fully meet the operational requirements of the copper smelter there. The new plant was commissioned in 2023 and complements the existing ASU in Bor. The oxygen production capacity was increased by 35%. 
Since 2012 Messer has invested over 50 million euros in the Bor site, including the construction of a new administration building and a distribution center for technical gases. The production facilities are designed for maximum energy efficiency and sustainability: solar panels have been installed and the facilities are also state of the art, resulting in savings in electricity consumption. 

In 2023 Messer commissioned a new air separation unit in Vratimov, Czech Republic. It replaces the existing ASU of MG Odra Gas, which was modernized in 1993. MG Odra Gas is a joint venture between Messer and Liberty Ostrava, 70 percent of whose shares are held by Messer. Thanks to the improved specific energy consumption of the new plant, industrial gases can now be produced in a more environmentally friendly and economical way. At the same time, this investment will make it possible to increase liquid gas production by a factor of around four. This increases supply reliability for bulk customers. 
One of the largest consumers of the gases is the Liberty Ostrava steelworks. The steel producer and other major industrial companies in the region receive gaseous nitrogen, oxygen and argon via a pipeline. The remaining product quantities are filled in gas cylinders and in liquid form in tankers.

As the world’s largest provider of sustainability ratings for companies, EcoVadis evaluates how companies incorporate CSR principles into their business strategy and management system. Various categories such as environmental protection, labor and human rights, ethical standards and sustainable procurement are taken into account when assessing sustainability performance. In 2023 Messer’s sustainability performance was once again assessed by EcoVadis. In the “Sustainability Performance Overview” published on April 25, 2024.

The “CDP Score Report - Climate Change 2023” enables companies to be classified in terms of environmental and climate protection.