Air Products has announced that extensive damage caused by Hurricane Katrina has impacted the company's industrial gas complex in New Orleans. Although the full extent of the damage to the New Orleans production facilities is unknown at this time, the company will be working to bring operations back on line safely. Restart of the plant will be largely dependent on the availability of power, utilities, communications, other infrastructure access, and the extent of the damage. Based on initial assessments, damage from the hurricane will affect Air Products' ability to supply customers with hydrogen from the New Orleans plant for an extended period of time. In addition, the company's liquid hydrogen production facility in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, will undergo a scheduled shutdown due to a temporary suspension of its supplier's feedgas plant. As a result, the company has declared force majeure for liquid hydrogen at these two industrial gas locations.

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