North America and Asia, especially China, continue to be linchpins of world market growth, says Linde in its half yearly financial report.

Linde has taken advantage of China's fast growing market by launching a second forklift brand in China in May 2005.

The OM brand "middle price category" forklifts are manufactured in Xiamen but the company would not disclose more details on the product.

"The size of the (Chinese) market is now around 14,000 units and in the next few years it is expected to grow 15 per cent to 20 per cent, higher than the growth rate in the market as a whole. We are seeking to achieve a 15 per cent market share in this segment by 2008," Linde spokesperson Uwe Wolfinger said.

"Sales for the Linde brand in China were around EUR100 million (USD123.6 million) in 2004," he said.

Sales for Linde's materials handling unit increased 4.8 per cent to EUR1.67 billion (USD2.05 billion) for the first half of 2005, while incoming orders increased 5.7 per cent to EUR1.83 billion (USD2.26 billion). Operating profit increased 15.4 per cent to EUR75 million (USD92.5 million).

The financial report also said there continued to be two distinct business trends in Europe.

"Demand in western Europe remained static compared to the previous year [and] eastern Europe again achieved double-digit growth rates," the report said.