# Oxygen: Production

Why five companies sell most of the world's industrial gas

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

Why five companies sell most of the world's industrial gas What this tab covers Who makes it and how much: world capacity and output, utilisation, the top producing countries and companies globally and in India, concentration, new capacity coming, and each region's position.

| Measure | Figure | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| **World capacity** | not published |  | no public world ASU capacity census found |
| **World output** | about 400 Mt a year |  | Thunder Said Energy (May 2023) |
| **Capacity utilisation** | not published | Tonnage plants are sized to a host and run near full; merchant liquid capacity has spare room, as India showed in 2021 when liquid medical oxygen output rose 70% in nine months. | Government of India via Deccan Herald (2021) |
| **Concentration** | top-5 gas companies (Air Liquide, Linde, Air Products, Messer, Nippon Sanso) hold about 80-84% of the industrial gases market | Captive steel-plant ASUs are excluded from that market figure. In India, Linde (26%) and INOX Air Products (25%) hold half the commercial market (2024). | MarketsandMarkets (2024); gasworld India report (2025) |
| **New capacity** | new ASUs follow steel and gasification projects | India's commercial gases market is forecast to grow 9.2-9.5% a year to about $2.83-2.87 billion by 2029 (gasworld). Talcher coal-gasification urea plant (1.27 Mt urea) needs large oxygen supply. Electrolyser hubs will add by-product oxygen. | gasworld (2025); Department of Fertilizers via ETV Bharat (2025) |

#### Top producing countries

- **China**: not published; proxy: 980 Mt raw steel and the world's largest coal-gasification base
- **India**: not published; proxy: 160 Mt raw steel; LMO capacity at least 9,690 t a day (2021)
- **United States**: not published; proxy: 82 Mt raw steel
- **Japan**: not published; proxy: 81 Mt raw steel
- **Russia**: not published; proxy: 65 Mt raw steel
 USGS MCS 2026 (steel); USGS MCS 2026; Government of India (2021); USGS MCS 2026

#### Largest producers: global

| Company | Country | Volume | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Linde** about 855 production sites across segments, mostly cryogenic ASUs and CO2 plants | UK/US/Germany | 33.99 $ billion sales, all gases | 2025 | [Linde 2025 Annual Report / Form 10-K](https://www.lobbyregister.bundestag.de/media/42/b1/812501/2025-annual-report-to-shareholders.pdf) |
| **Air Liquide** not retrieved; about EUR 27 billion revenue (2024, indicative) | France | not published | 2025 | [company](https://www.airliquide.com/) |
| **Air Products** not retrieved; about $12 billion sales (FY2024, indicative) | US | not published | FY2025 | [company](https://www.airproducts.com/) |
| **Nippon Sanso Holdings** not retrieved | Japan | not published | 2025 | [MarketsandMarkets (top-5 list)](https://www.nipponsanso-hd.co.jp/en/) |
| **Messer** not retrieved | Germany | not published | 2025 | [MarketsandMarkets (top-5 list)](https://www.messergroup.com/) |

#### Largest producers: India

| Company | Country | Volume | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Linde India** | India | 466 $ million commercial gas revenue (26% share) | 2024 | [gasworld India country report (2025)](https://gasworld.com/story/india-country-report-market-for-industrial-gases-grows-500m-in-decade/2154302.article) |
| **INOX Air Products** JV of INOX Leasing and Finance and Air Products | India | 456 $ million commercial gas revenue (25% share) | 2024 | [gasworld India country report (2025)](https://gasworld.com/story/india-country-report-market-for-industrial-gases-grows-500m-in-decade/2154302.article) |
| **Air Liquide India** | India | not published | 2024 | [gasworld India country report (2025)](https://gasworld.com/story/india-country-report-market-for-industrial-gases-grows-500m-in-decade/2154302.article) |
| **Air Water India** | India | not published | 2024 | [gasworld India country report (2025)](https://gasworld.com/story/india-country-report-market-for-industrial-gases-grows-500m-in-decade/2154302.article) |

India's commercial industrial gases market was about $1.82 billion in 2024, up from $1.3 billion in 2014, with oxygen about 31% of it (gasworld). Large steel mills also run captive ASUs. India is self-sufficient in oxygen; in 2021 it imported only 1,385 t of liquid medical oxygen.

#### Position by region

| Region | Position |
|---|---|
| **US** | Self-sufficient; oxygen is made locally by Linde, Air Products and Air Liquide (Airgas). |
| **EU** | Self-sufficient; high power prices raise cost; steel decarbonisation via DRI changes oxygen demand patterns. |
| **India** | Self-sufficient but medical supply depends on steel-plant liquid output, as 2021 showed; commercial market $1.82 billion (2024). |
| **China** | Largest producer, driven by steel and coal-to-chemicals; local ASU makers such as Hangzhou Oxygen supply plants. |
| **Japan** | Self-sufficient; Nippon Sanso is the main supplier. |
| **Middle East** | Large ASUs serve gas-to-liquids, DRI steel, refinery gasification and petrochemicals. |

## 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)
- [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/oxygen/feedstocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/oxygen/cycles/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)