APD Air Products and Chemicals Inc

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., Dec. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Effective January 1, 2012, or as contracts permit, Air Products (NYSE: APD) will be implementing a price increase for liquid and bulk helium gases in North America. Specific adjustments are being communicated directly to customers.

The price increase is the result of several factors. The global helium market continues to experience severe shortages in the supply needed to meet the world's growing demand. The industry-wide shortage has made it increasingly difficult to maintain Air Products' global system for meeting customer requirements, and unfortunately this situation is expected to continue well into the future. Air Products has incurred increased costs to operate in this manner, as its worldwide helium team is managing this difficult situation on a daily basis in order to maintain uninterruptible supply to customers.

***NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release regarding important risk factors. Actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors not anticipated by management, including risk factors described in the Company's Form 10K for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2011.

SOURCE Air Products