BOC Gases to Break Ground for Beloit Air Separation Plant.

MURRAY HILL, N.J. -- BOC Gases, a member of The Linde Group, the world's leading industrial gases company, is about to break ground for its newest air separation plant, located in Beloit, Wisconsin, some 75 miles southwest of Milwaukee.

When the plant is finished at the end of 2007, it will separate air cryogenically to produce over 700 tons a day of liquid oxygen and nitrogen. From there the gases will be trucked to hospitals, food processors, metals and chemicals manufacturers and independent gases distributors in Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa.

BOC will employ between 35 to 40 people at the plant, most of whom will be truck drivers.

Cos Daguanno, chairman of the Town of Beloit, said, "We are pleased to welcome BOC to our community. Besides providing a needed resource to our region's growing industrial base, BOC will provide thirty to forty family-supporting jobs and help diversify and balance our property tax base. BOC will be an added resource to fuel the greater Beloit area's food processing industry, and will help attract future industrial development to our community."

Earl Lawson, vice president, Midwest region, BOC, said, "BOC is investing for growth where the market conditions are right. This will be our largest plant in Wisconsin and is the second air separation plant we have begun building this year in the U.S. It is part of our nationwide network of air separation plants located around the country, from which we serve customers ranging in size from small family businesses to multi-billion dollar corporations."

BOC has seen demand in the Midwest increase steadily over the last few years, driven mostly by food processing, combustion and petrochemical applications.

"We've seen excellent growth in Wisconsin and the greater Chicago area and we are making this investment in order to improve security of supply to our customers. This location gives us the zoning and power infrastructure we need and access to many of the region's major highways," Lawson said.

The location also enables BOC to optimize its distribution patterns. Drivers will have to cover less distance to serve customers in Wisconsin and Chicago and BOC's existing plants in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio will be able to free up production to support customers located closer to them.

The Linde Group is a world leading industrial gases and engineering company with more than 53,000 employees working in around 70 countries worldwide. Following the acquisition of The BOC Group the company has gases and engineering sales of approximately $15 billion. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards earnings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services.

For more information, please see The Linde Group online at http://www.linde.com