Air Products halts new spend on $4.5 Billion Louisiana blue hydrogen-to-ammonia project

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US-based industrial gas firm Air Products has suspended new capital spending on its $4.5bn Louisiana blue hydrogen-to-ammonia project while it pursues a new strategy to sell parts of the scheme off, new CEO Eduardo Menezes said yesterday (Thursday).

Specifically, the company plans to sell off the ammonia production portion of the scheme, as well as the planned carbon sequestration facilities, Menezes told investors in an earnings call for Air Products Q2 2025 results.

“We are talking about not only having someone else executing the ammonia loop and owning the ammonia loop, but also another company or the same company taking care of the CO2 sequestration, which is not a core business for us,” he said.

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Air Products said it is delaying the startup of its $8 billion blue hydrogen manufacturing complex in Ascension Parish and won't move forward with the project until it sells off the facility's carbon capture and ammonia portions.

The earliest the facility will begin production won't be until 2028 or 2029, Air Products CEO Eduardo Menezes said Thursday during a quarterly earnings call with analysts.

"To be clear, Air Products is an industrial gases company and does not intend to be a retail marketer of ammonia," Menezes said. Menezes, who took over as CEO in February, said the company had moved away from its core businesses in search of growth.

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Community groups and environmentalists said they were pleased with the decision to delay the plant.

“This is great news for all the groups and community members who have been fighting this ill-conceived project from the start,” Corinne Van Dalen, senior attorney for Earthjustice, said in a statement.

Air Products has promoted the economic benefits of the plant, which would create 170 permanent jobs, and said it will help reduce carbon emissions by making hydrogen and ammonia.

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