The Department of Labor and Industry reported that 14 staff will be let go from 17 November.

Gardner specialises in manufacturing large tanks for transporting liquid hydrogen and helium and it is believed the move follows a downturn in orders.

The well-established firm has produced more than 2,000 liquid helium and hydrogen tanks and containers down the decades.

The Fogelsville facility – a hub for producing oxygen, nitrogen, and argon as well as specialty gases – will also permanently close, according to reports.

In Air Products’ Q2 earnings call this year the company’s recently installed CEO Eduardo Menezes talked about staffing and indicated that there would some rationalisation and layoffs in the years ahead, as the business is repositioned.

Air Products aims to halve its capital spend to $2.5bn by 2030 from today’s levels.

In other news, the multinational industrial gases operator and the government of Uzbekistan have agreed to accelerate the implementation of several industrial projects, including the construction of a gas chemical complex in the Bukhara region. 

Known as the Gas Chemical Complex MTO Central Asia, the facility will use methanol-to-olefins technology to convert natural gas into polymers and other petrochemical products.