Commodities
Linde (LIN): Industrial Gas Giant Fueling Green Steel, Chips, and Space
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When we think of industrial materials, we usually think of commodities like steel, coal, aluminum, ceramics, and other easy-to-identify solids. But equally important are all the various gases used by the chemical, metallurgical, and semiconductor industries, as well as in medical applications.
Hydrogen is used in countless chemical reactions for products as diverse as food, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals, and it is becoming a key product for green steel and aluminum.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) and monoxide (CO) are also important base components for an endless list of chemical compounds. Natural gas powers most metallurgical processes. Helium is a key component for superconducting magnets (maglev, MRI, etc.) and semiconductor manufacturing.
Nitrogen and oxygen are also important for many manufacturing methods and vital medical gases. Other specialty gases like argon, xenon, sulfur hexafluoride, and others are also important supplies that sustain our modern civilization.
Source: Linde
In general, the more advanced the process requiring industrial gases, the purer the gas needs to be. And so most companies needing this product will rely on a provider with the experience and scale of production to make it as cheap as possible while still matching the required quality.
This makes companies dealing with industrial gases an absolutely essential part of the supply chain involved in reindustrialization, semiconductor manufacturing, and the green transition.
A strong leader in this segment is Linde, which quite literally invented the industry by developing the process for liquefaction of air.
LIN Price Chart
Linde Overview
Linde History
Linde was founded in 1879 by Carl von Linde, who was the first person to extract oxygen gas from the air, making it a commercially viable product and thus launching the industrial gas industry. This process also allowed for the separation of air and other gases.
“After a decade, Linde withdrew from managerial activities to refocus on research, and in 1895 he succeeded in liquefying air by first compressing it and then letting it expand rapidly, thereby cooling it. He then obtained oxygen and nitrogen from the liquid air by slow warming.”
He also developed modern refrigeration and co-founded Güldner-Motoren-Gesellschaft, which originally produced engines and tractors and would, over time, become the Linde Material Handling equipment brand producing forklifts and other similar equipment.
After great success in Europe, Carl Von Linde decided in 1906 to expand his oxygen extraction company overseas, targeting America, which is today the largest market for the company.
“In the early days of oxygen production, the biggest use by far for the gas was the oxyacetylene torch, invented in France in 1904, which revolutionized metal cutting and welding in the construction of ships, skyscrapers, and other iron and steel structures.”
Following World War I, Linde’s US. assets were confiscated and became part of the into the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), later renamed Praxair. In 2018, this became part of Linde again when Linde merged with Praxair.
During the inter-war period and the immediate aftermath, Linde built its European business, with strong activity in the production of oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and helium.
In the past two decades, the company went on with a series of acquisitions to grow its size in the industrial gas business. It started with the acquisition of Swedish specialty gas company AGA AB for $3.71B in 2000. It was followed by the acquisition of the British BOC for €11.7B in 2006, of the Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal, and Spain homecare business of Air Products & Chemicals for €590M in 2012, of Lincare Holdings, a healthcare gas provider in the US for US$4.6B in 2012; and American HomePatient in 2016.
Further expansion internationally included the acquisition of Ceylon Oxygen Ltd in Sri Lanka, building air separation factories in Indonesia, and the acquisition of Air Liquide (AIL.DE ) Korea’s industrial merchant & electronics and liquid bulk air gases divisions in 2016.
But it was the $90B merger of equals between Linde and Praxair that created the giant it is today.
Linde Business Model
The business model is split between the site of production and the ownership model. Some gases are produced directly on the industrial site using them, while others are produced in centralized facilities and then transported to the final user.
Liquid bulk (liquid air, liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen, etc.) is the largest product of the company, delivered to customers as liquid gas produced in centralized industrial sites.
The on-site sales are extremely stable, as they are tied to decades-long supply contracts with de-risked energy and raw material supplies. In general, this model is the best for large factories requiring a constantly large amount of purified gas, like steel mills, semiconductor foundries, etc.
Source: Linde
In contrast, bulk liquid deliveries through “merchant” contracts are based on shorter-term contracts, depending on the local supply chain, and are potentially more profitable in periods of boom and more risky during supply crises or low prices.
Packaged gas is the category representing sales in smaller volumes, like gas canisters with a short-term contract.
In 2025, packaged and merchant sales represented more than 2/3rd of total sales.
Source: Linde
Linde is present in virtually all the specialty gas markets when it comes to packaged products. Other gases are only available through mercant delivery or on-site production.
Source: Linde
As a key supplier of an ingredient relatively cheap compared to the final product, Linde usually maintains commercial relations for decades with a given customer, who will not easily risk changing to another supplier that might have different impurities or gas quality.
Linde By The Numbers
Linde is a major global industrial company, with around ~65,550 employees.
Linde holds the top position globally, with ~31% of market share in industrial gases, followed by France’s Air Liquide (~23%) and the US-based Air Products & Chemicals (~13%).
Overall, Linde’s sales have grown quickly in the past decades through a mix of acquisitions and organic growth through strategic investment, with growth numbers higher than its key competitor and a stock performance beating the S&P500.
Source: Linde
This performance in sales and stock market valuation also stems from rapidly rising cash flow over the past years. It has also converted into a steadily growing dividend distribution since 1993.
Source: Linde
Besides gas production and sales, Linde is also selling its expertise in engineering and handling of gases, an activity requiring a lot less capital expenditure. But investors should remember this is a small part of the business, making up only 7% of total revenues in 2025.
Source: Linde
The company has a very diverse array of customers, giving it a diversified revenue base that is likely to fluctuate only alongside the global economy. For example, even its largest served industries, like chemicals & energy, are only 21% of total sales, and the #2 largest segment is manufacturing at 21% as well.
Source: Linde
Sales are also diversified by geographies, with the Americas segment mostly inherited from Praxair making up 45% of the total, followed by EMEA (25%) and Asia-Pacific (20%).
The nature of gas products and the difficulty of transporting them over long distances favor a decentralized production model, with many regional hubs and local factories matching the needs of that specific region’s industry and population, with 855 major core production facilities.
Source: Linde
Linde’s Future
Reindustrialization & Expansion
The process of bringing back manufacturing to the USA and Western countries, especially advanced technologies, is a massive opportunity for Linde.
For example, the company will invest $1B to expand its existing on-site industrial gases complex in Phoenix, Arizona, to support the foundry hub anchored around TSMC investment in a massive chip factory in the area. It will make the site one of Linde’s largest investments for an electronics customer globally.
“Advanced semiconductor manufacturing depends on the reliable supply of gases at exceptional levels of purity. As global demand for advanced semiconductors continues to increase, this investment demonstrates Linde’s ability to deliver the purity, reliability and scale our customers require.”
Armando Botello, President, Linde Gases, US.
Similarly, Linde LienHwa, Linde’s joint venture partner in Taiwan, is planning to invest approximately $800M to build, own, and operate several air separation units and hydrogen production units. The sales servicing electronic customers grew 18% year-to-year in Q2 2026.
In general, bringing back steel manufacturing or shipbuilding will also require a lot of industrial gases, making Linde an essential partner for any reindustrialization project.
Green Energy & New Markets
As the global leader in industrial gases with almost as much market share as its next two closest competitors, Linde’s future growth can only come from two sources: global economic and industrial activity growth, and new markets and projects.
One such new market is space launches and the budding space economy in general.
“In 2025, we supported a record number of launches and have recently invested nearly $1 billion to meet growing demand from contracted space-launch customers, while building an ecosystem that supports even more launches in the years ahead.”
The launch of rockets requires a tremendous amount of fuel, which is either liquid oxygen and hydrogen (a specialty of Linde) or liquid methane in the case of SpaceX’s Starship.
“In a typical launch, around 90% of the rocket’s mass at take-off is the propellants.”
Another gas required for this industry is nitrogen, as the molding process for carbon-fiber composite parts involves the composite material being cured in an autoclave pressurized with nitrogen.
Cryogens like liquid nitrogen and liquid helium are used to cool the chambers and create a vacuum to test component integrity.
Meanwhile, in-space propulsion is increasingly relying solely on rare noble gases being propelled by ion thrusters, requiring xenon and/or krypton.
“These rare gases are not highly abundant in our atmosphere – so we need to perform specialized separation work to get a meaningful quantity of the gas. Our expertise makes Linde a leading supplier of these important propellants.”
Matt Coffman, Linde’s Market Manager for Rare Gases.
Another sector is low-carbon energy and green hydrogen.
In 2025, the company signed several new projects, including a $400M investment in Louisiana to supply oxygen and nitrogen to the Blue Point low-carbon ammonia project, which should ultimately produce 1.4 million metric tons of low-carbon (blue) ammonia per year.
In general, green ammonia and hydrogen are likely to become a constantly expanding segment for Linde, as they represent a form of fuel to replace coal (in steel-making) and liquid fuels for shipping and eventually air transport.
Carbon capture technology, locking in freshly emitted or atmospheric CO2, can also benefit from Linde expertise in separating, concentrating, and liquefying pure gases.
Linde Investment Case
Linde’s Pros
The strength of an investment in Linde is in providing exposure to many technologically advanced sectors with a “pick and shovel” approach, from chemicals & healthcare to semiconductors and space launch.
It is also by far the world’s largest company in its sector, providing the sort of stability and scale shareholders can expect from such a competitive position, an investment profile demonstrated by a decades-long steady rise in profitability and dividend distributions.
Lastly, specialty gases are becoming even more important as the world moves away from fossil fuels. The mass production of hydrogen, potentially to be stored and utilized once transformed into ammonia, is one of the sole credible technological solutions for decarbonizing shipping and heavy industry.
This represents a serious opportunity for Linde, with its expertise in engineering, liquefaction, and transport of gas through a global supply chain extremely valuable in a future hydrogen-powered economy.
Linde’s Cons
Despite requiring advanced technology and expensive facilities, industrial gases are ultimately a commodity. This is not necessarily a bad thing for a company with the scale and efficiency of Linde. But investors should remember that no matter how useful Linde products are to space rockets or semiconductor foundries, the company’s pricing power is strongly limited by intense competition.
Another negative is that after two decades of serial acquisitions and a mega-merger, this venue of growth is mostly becoming impossible/irrelevant for Linde. Any merger with another large industrial gas company would likely be vetoed by competition authorities. And even acquisitions of smaller companies will likely trigger increased scrutiny to avoid the industrial gas market turning into the oligopoly of a handful of firms.
So while Linde growth profile in the past decades has been remarkable, investors should look at whether the current stock price truly reflects that the only likely growth will come from global economic dynamism and a few markets (hydrogen, rockets) which are still small for now.
Latest Linde (LIN) Stock News and Developments
