BOC Wins Ayamas Nitrogen Supply Contract, Extends Global Poultry Leadership Position.

Business Editors

MURRAY HILL, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 8, 2004

BOC (NYSE:BOX), the leading global solutions provider to the food industry, has signed an exclusive liquid nitrogen (LIN) supply agreement with Ayamas Food Corporation Berhad, the integrated poultry-processing arm of KFC Group in Malaysia.

Ayamas Food is the single largest player in the Malaysian poultry business. Ayamas supplies poultry products to all KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in Malaysia and Singapore. It also supplies its own restaurants, Rasa Ayamas, which serve local cuisine, and a chain of corporately owned convenience stores.

BOC negotiated the deal through its Malaysia affiliate, Malaysia Oxygen Berhad (MOX). According to Weng-Tat Kan, sales manager, food and beverage, MOX, the contract followed MOX's successful installation and operation of a BOC 30-foot cryogenic tunnel freezer at the Ayamas poultry processing plant in Port Klang, Malaysia. Ayamas selected BOC's freezer after head-to-head performance tests against mechanical freezers showed that only the BOC system was capable of meeting Singapore's strict food regulations for processed chicken.

Weng Tat-Kan said, "Our ability to access information from BOC's corps of global technology experts and from BOC's Internet-based knowledge management system enabled us to design a production solution for Ayamas that could be implemented and supported locally."

Bill Baker, vice president, food and beverage markets, Process Gas Solutions, BOC, said, "This win clearly demonstrates BOC's competitive advantage in the market place. We understand the food market and our customers' processes better than our competitors, we share information globally and provide solutions tailored to the customer's need."

World poultry production is growing at about four percent annually. Four nations, the U.S., China, Brazil and the European Union account for 70 percent of the production. Brazil, which has the lowest production costs, has experienced double-digit growth. Thailand, which only has three percent of the world's production, is growing at 13 percent annually. The United States poultry market is growing at about two percent; the remainder of the market is relatively flat.

"As the world's leading solutions provider to the food industry with the broadest offer of equipment, customer process knowledge, and gas supply, BOC is well-positioned to take advantage of the poultry industry's growth. BOC is the world's leading supplier of carbon dioxide and liquid nitrogen for the cryogenic chilling and freezing of processed poultry and can design, deliver and service a wide range of freezing equipment and technology to customers located anywhere in the world" Baker said.

Food processors look to BOC for the engineered solutions they need to achieve total process control in their plants. BOC uses the best available services and technologies to help customers address their atmosphere, microbe and temperature control needs. Customers benefit from BOC's experience and expertise in providing a range of custom offerings, such as ozone and U/V light technologies, cryogenic gases, modified atmosphere packaging, and water management services so they can deliver the highest quality food to their customers.

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 46,000 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.