Western Europe continues to bear the brunt of external economic headwinds. China’s slowing growth, coupled with ongoing global market volatility, is a cause for concern for Europe’s developed economies. Sustained political issues also take their toll.
Yet in some quarters there is a notion that Europe’s economy is in its best shape for more than half a decade and, while it is undoubtedly the cause of much of that market volatility, the low price of oil is a relatively good thing for the region.
This is reflected in the industrial gases business. Though noticeable disparities exist throughout Western Europe’s industrial gas markets – with a number of Nordic markets annually expanding at around 5% on average while, on the other hand, the likes of Portugal, Spain and Italy face contractions – there is a surprisingly robust outlook across the region. Here, we explore some of the notable trends right now in Western Europe’s gases business, according to gasworld Business Intelligence.
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