With the increase in production capacities of various stainless-steel manufacturers in India, the usage of argon gas has increased to peak levels, thus spiralling its demand in industrial markets. 

Following this Visakhapatnam’s manufacturing industry too has been facing an acute shortage of this inert gas, i.e. Argon gas.

Apart from its availability the quality of Argon gas matters too. As per experts the purity of Argon gas is one of the most important factors when used in welding stainless steel and other precious metals.

‘The price of Argon gas has risen sharply in the last two months from Rs 130 per cubic meter to Rs 450 and, in some cases, even to Rs 600 per cubic meter.’ said Mr. Verma KVSA, chief operating officer at Hobel Bellows, a company located in VSEZ, speaking to Vizag Industrial Scan. 

Stating that this gas is used for all welding applications Mr. Verma informed that 50% of the fabricators in Auto Nagar too use this gas and a plethora of other manufacturing units in SEZ. 

‘Because of the surge in the price, all of us have to suffer up to 5% of lesser profits in work orders. The quality of available gas is also in jeopardy, and because of this, owners have to rethink accepting new work orders. 

We seek the government’s assistance in getting this matter resolved, as argon gas is an important consumable for the manufacturing industry’ said Mr Verma.

Similarly, an owner of a welding unit in Autonagar urged Government and industry bigwigs to resolve the on-going tussle to supply high-quality Argon gas to establishments, or else units will be forced to close due to failure in accomplishing the work orders.

“We have a contract with a known vendor to supply Argon gas at Rs. 79 per cubic meter, but with the prices having zoomed in the market, the company has stopped supplying to us. 

We thus have been forced to procure the same from the open market at prices around Rs 450 per cubic meter, said a spokesperson of Hindustan Shipyard Limited, one of the major users of this gas in Visakhapatnam.

“We are contemplating twice purchasing and storing Argon gas (liquid form) in bulk quantities with a fear of decline in the price after some months,” said one of the bottling company owners while replying to a question by Vizag Industrial Scan.

“We are unable to depend on the purity certificates that are submitted by foreign suppliers with the fear of their rejection by local laboratories, which causes the inability to purchase the liquid Argon by our company to cater to the needs of the Vizag industry,” added another bottling company owner.

As per industry sources there are 12–15 local players who supply Argon gas in the city, while some of the big suppliers of this gas include the likes of Linde, Inox, and Ellenbarrie. 

However, when contacted by some other suppliers (bottling companies) in the Vizag vicinity, they denied the surge in prices of the gas and also said there is no shortage of this gas.