Minneapolis, MN – December 13, 2018 – Absolute
Air, LLC today announced plans to build a merchant Air Separation Plant (ASP)
to serve its partners and customers in the upper Midwest area. The plant will be located on a contracted site
in the Minneapolis metropolitan area. “We expect the facility to be on-stream
in 2020”, stated Ned Pontious, President of Absolute Air. The plant will produce oxygen, nitrogen and
argon for use in customer applications such as metal fabrication, blanketing,
purging, combustion, chilling and freezing. Absolute Air, LLC is a
partnership of five locally owned independent gas and welding supply
distributors, as well as the Independent Welding Distributors Cooperative
(IWDC). The partners view the investment as a proactive move to assure an
ongoing and more economical supply of oxygen, nitrogen and argon against the
backdrop of continuing consolidation of international industrial gas producers.
The five distributors involved in the project
are: Mississippi Welders Supply, Toll Company, Minneapolis Oxygen, A-OX Welding
Supply, and Huber Supply. All are
located in the upper Midwest area to be served by the plant, and together
represent 30 business locations with over 50,000 customers in a 7-state region.
The IWDC is a cooperative headquartered in
Indianapolis, IN, with 140 member companies.
It was formed in 1994 and leverages the strengths of its independent
welding distributor members across North America. IWDC member companies collectively represent
over $2.3B in sales, serving a wide range of industries. The common denominator
is that these industries look to them for industrial, specialty, and medical
gases as well as related equipment, welding hardgoods, and consumables. End-use customers served by IWDC members
benefit from having the unparalleled expertise of a local member distributor
who has access to national-scale purchasing and marketing programs.
You can learn more about any of these entities
at:
Absolute Air:
www.absolute-air.com
IWDC:
www.iwdc.coop
Mississippi Welders Supply:
www.mwsco.com
A-Ox Welding Supply:
www.aoxwelding.com
Toll Company:
www.tollgas.com
Huber Supply Company:
www.hubersupply.com
Minneapolis Oxygen:
www.mplso2.com