A LEADER IN INDUSTRIAL GASES
Sico SpA is a producer, trader and distributor of technical gases, in liquid and compressed form, as well as a supplier of these at local level, through a pipeline. This Italian family company is the only one in its industry to have its own production capacity. Barbara Rossi spoke to co-owner Claudio Grigato.
S
ico SpA, whose legal headquarters are is in Milan, but whose operative headquarters are in Saronno, near Varese, was established in the 1950s by Mr Grigato’s parents, operating in the field of compressed technical gases production and commercialisation. Over the years, due to the appearance of liquid gases on the scene, the company has also added these products to its range, and since 1970 it has been operating under the name of Sico SpA. Currently all of the company’s shares are owned by Mr Claudio Grigato and his brother Giovanni, the second generation of the founding family, and recently the third generation has also joined the company, bringing new passion and enthusiasm. Mr Grigato is particularly proud of the family dimension of his company which, with its success, proves that even in a sector such as his, where due to the presence of multinationals, investments are of 72 Industry Europe
particular significance, a family company can be in a prominent position. In fact, in terms of productive capacity, in its sector, the company ranks second in Europe and, with its portfolio of prestigious clients, it’s in an absolute leading position in Italy. Sico has a daily liquid oxygen, nitrogen and argon production capacity of 560 tonnes, when the European benchmark to maintain competitiveness is 300 daily tonnes. While the main range of products on offer is made up of base gases, these can also be mixed together or with external elements of noble gases, a task carried out by Sico’s own mixing laboratory. As well as oxygen, nitrogen, and argon, the company also supplies hydrogen, helium, xenon, krypton and carbon dioxide. In addition to hosting the operative and administration offices, the Saronno site also houses the R&D department, staffed by
engineers and chemists, the laboratory for the preparation of pure gases, a filling station for helium bottling and also serves as a secondary production site (an operative unit). The main production sites are situated in Cesano Maderno (Lombardy), home of the air fractioning and hydrogen production plant, and in Brescia, where acetylene is produced. Furthermore Sico is part of a consortium for the mineral extraction of carbon dioxide in Caprese Michelangelo, near the Tuscan town of Arezzo. Sico can also avail itself of its nine operative units which include not only those in Saronno, Montichiari (Brescia) and Cesano Maderno, but also in Bari (Apulia), Camposampiero (near Padua, Veneto), Camucia di Cortona (near Arezzo, Tuscany), Crevalcore (near Bologna, Emilia), Nettuno (Latina, Lazio), and Villastellone (Turin, Piedmont). Moreover the company owns a 51 per cent share in two subsidiaries,
