Air Liquide signed a major long-term supply contract with ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG in Germany’s Rhine-Ruhr area. Air Liquide will deliver 4,600 metric tons per day of oxygen, nitrogen and argon to ThyssenKrupp’s steelworks in the Duisburg cluster, the largest steel production region in Europe, mainly satisfying the needs of the German automotive industry. The gases will be supplied via Air Liquide’s 500-km pipeline network, which already serves customers in the steel, chemical and petrochemical industries in the Rhine-Ruhr area. This pipeline is fed by several air-separation units, including Germany’s largest oxygen production plant (with a capacity of 2,400 metric tons/day).