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AI chip demand powers third-quarter growth at chemical, industrial gas makers

By Reuters News

By Dimitri Rhodes

Nov 5 (Reuters) - The artificial intelligence boom is helping drive demand for European chemical and industrial gas companies, as semiconductor manufacturers expand production capacity to meet surging demand for AI chips.

Belgian specialty chemicals company Syensqo SYENS.BR beat third-quarter expectations on Thursday as demand from semiconductor manufacturers continued to support its materials business.

"We'll probably see a 25% second-half improvement in our sales in semiconductors over the first half," CEO Mike Radossich told journalists.

Industrial gas groups Linde and Air Liquide AIRP.PA also reported forecast-beating third-quarter results last week, helped by double-digit sales growth in electronics businesses that supply semiconductor manufacturers.

AI demand has become the chip industry's main growth engine, driving a fresh wave of semiconductor investment as AI servers require far more silicon than traditional computing infrastructure.

Air Liquide said its electronics investments nearly doubled in the first nine months of 2026 compared with all of 2025 as it increased spending on projects tied to semiconductor manufacturing. In August, the company agreed to buy South Korea's DIG Airgas for 2.85 billion euros. AI CHIPS DRIVE SUPPLIER EXPANSION

Companies such as Linde, Air Liquide, Solvay SOLB.BR and Syensqo supply ultra-pure gases and specialty chemicals used in semiconductor production, where increasingly advanced manufacturing processes require extremely high levels of purity.

Air Liquide recently announced a new plant in Taiwan and a commitment of nearly 200 million euros to support an SK hynix 000660.KS semiconductor project.

Linde in July committed $1 billion to supply a major semiconductor manufacturing facility in Arizona.

Solvay, which spun off Syensqo in 2023, said in September it would double capacity at an ultra-pure hydrogen peroxide plant in Taiwan's Hsinchu Science Park, where TSMC is expanding 3-nanometre chip production.

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