# Oxygen: Cycles

How India's 2021 oxygen crisis unfolded

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/oxygen/cycles/

How India's 2021 oxygen crisis unfolded What this tab covers How its prices and margins move: past booms and busts with price levels, the spread or margin that the industry watches, the drivers of the cycle and the metrics to track.

Oxygen does not trade on a spot market and prices are not public. Tonnage oxygen is sold on 15-20 year contracts with power cost pass-through, so supplier margins are stable. Merchant liquid prices move with power and with demand shocks: the 2021 medical surge in India and Europe's 2022 power crisis, when gas companies added energy surcharges. The listed gas majors show the stability: Linde's sales grew from $33.0 billion (2024) to $34.0 billion (2025) through a weak industrial cycle.
 The spread to watch **Oxygen contract price minus power cost**

India May 2023: contract 8.11 cents per Nm3 against off-site cash cost 3.53 cents per Nm3, a margin over cash cost of about 4.6 cents per Nm3 (about $32/t) (Intratec).

#### Booms and busts

1. April-May 2021 (India)

Covid second wave raised medical oxygen demand to nearly 9,000 t a day. The government diverted steel-plant oxygen, ran Oxygen Express trains (35,500 t by June 2021) and airlifted tankers.

NPPA capped liquid medical oxygen ex-factory prices (2020-21, indicative); market prices not public

2. 2021-2022 (Europe)

Power prices rose with gas. Gas companies added energy surcharges and passed costs through contracts.

World Bank Europe gas rose from $7.27/MMBtu (Jan 2021) to $70.04/MMBtu (Aug 2022); oxygen price series not public

3. 2022-2023 (India)

Prices eased as demand normalised and new capacity came in.

India contract oxygen fell 6% year on year to 8.11 US cents per Nm3 (May 2023, Intratec)

#### What drives the cycle

- **Steel output.** Steel is the largest user; BOF and blast furnace oxygen rise with Chinese and Indian steel production.
- **Power prices.** Electricity is half or more of cash cost, so power tariffs set merchant prices and margins.
- **Coal gasification and chemicals investment.** China's coal-to-chemicals and India's Talcher project create large new tonnage demand.
- **Health shocks.** Pandemics can triple medical demand within weeks, as India saw in 2021.

#### Metrics to track

| Metric | Why it matters | Where to track it |
|---|---|---|
| **Raw steel output by country** | main demand signal | worldsteel; USGS |
| **Industrial gas company results (volumes, price/mix)** | best public read on gas demand | Linde, Air Liquide, Air Products quarterly reports |
| **Industrial power tariffs** | cost driver | IEA; CEA (India) |

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/oxygen/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/oxygen/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/oxygen/correlation/index.md)
- [Production route](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/oxygen/routes/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/oxygen/production/index.md)
- [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/oxygen/feedstocks/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/oxygen/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/oxygen/movement/index.md)
- [Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/oxygen/regulation/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/oxygen/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/oxygen/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/oxygen/links/index.md)