Linde

Linde is the group formed when Linde and Praxair combined, with principal offices in the UK and Connecticut. On-site air separation units at steel mills, refiners, and chemical plants are fifteen-to-twenty-year take-or-pay contracts, and the plant is sized for that customer.

Merchant liquid and packaged cylinders serve customers too small for an on-site unit, delivered from Linde's network by truck. A hospital, a fab, or a fabricator on merchant supply can switch suppliers in theory, but the local depot and the tank already installed make it a conversion.

Hydrogen projects, including supply to refiners and new electrolyzer offtake, are bid against Air Liquide and Air Products. The winner pipes or trucks the gas under a contract that matches the life of the customer's process.

On-site contracts dedicate a gas plant to one mill or refinery for the contract term.

Merchant and cylinder networks are regional, so local depot coverage decides who can serve a customer.

Hydrogen offtake agreements lock a buyer to one supplier's molecules.

A steel mill with a Linde air-separation unit on site cannot run if that plant is down and has no second pipeline.

Smaller users with Linde tanks on their pad renew because swapping the tank and the delivery route is the real cost.