Air Currents

摘要

The Bad News Started Last spring for Dennis H. Reilley, chief executive of Praxair, the largest producer of industrial gases in the Americas. A pileup of inventory in the U.S. steel industry meant that Reilley, a big supplier of the oxygen used in steel manufacturing, would see a drop in business from some of his biggest customers. Then in June a fire broke out at a Praxair plant in St. Louis. No one was injured, but the fire dominated headlines and cable news channels for several frantic hours.