BOC Plant First to Supply Pakistani Beverage Industry With ISBT-compliant CO2.

MURRAY HILL, N.J. -- BOC (NYSE: BOX) has installed a state-of-the-art liquid carbon dioxide (CO2) plant in Multan, northern Pakistan. The 60 ton-per-day plant, which began operations earlier this year, is capable of producing International Society of Beverage Technology (ISBT)-compliant CO2. The plant is the first of its kind in Pakistan to serve the country's expanding core of local and international beverage producers.

Andrew Gardner, product marketing director, Process Gas Solutions, South and South East Asia, BOC, said, "Our ability to transfer best practices around the world enables us to provide our global beverage customers with the consistently high-quality CO2 they need to protect and maintain their brand. The combination of global best operating practice, safety, and world class analysis and testing makes us a preferred supplier for beverage industry leaders."

Gardner added, "The Multan plant's advanced technology enables us to achieve and deliver the highest level of ISBT compliance and provides BOC with a robust platform for future growth. By 2007, we expect to have a significant share of the overall CO2 market in Pakistan, and a majority share of the Pakistani food and beverage markets."

In addition to having a thriving local beverage industry, Pakistan is among the 10 most important markets for global consumer brand leaders. Industrial gases demand from the country's food and beverage industry is growing at twice the rate of other markets, and the purity, supply security, technology and customer service platforms BOC offers its beverage customers are crucial for their continued growth.

Aamir Niazi, project manager, CO2 development, BOC Pakistan, said, "Based on the plant size and the availability of raw CO2, the Multan plant can increase capacity significantly to meet growing demand over the next 10 years. It also enables us to offer our Pakistani beverage customers improved supply security, especially during the peak demand months of April through July, when temperatures rise above 45(degree)centigrade. We proved that during the 2004 peak season, where there was not a single outage at a BOC beverage customer."

BOC is the leading industrial gases company in Pakistan, supplying customers in the electronics, food and metals industries. BOC Pakistan is publicly quoted and is a significant entity on the Karachi and other stock exchanges in the country.

Over the past 100 years, BOC has earned an unparalleled reputation for quality and dependability in supplying high quality and cost-effective CO2 to customers around the world. We supply more than 3 million tons of CO2 per year to more than 5000 customers worldwide from more than 90 plants located in more than 25 countries on six continents.

The BOC Group (NYSE:BOX), the worldwide industrial gases, vacuum technologies and distribution services company, serves two million customers in more than 50 countries. It employs 44,500 people and had annual sales of over $7 billion in 2003. Further information about The BOC Group may be obtained on the Internet at http://www.boc.com.