Iran’s Zagros to shut 1.65m tonne/year methanol unit in October

16 September 2011 05:15  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Iran’s Zagros Petrochemical (ZPC) plans to shut one of its two 1.65m tonne/year methanol plants at Asaluyeh from 1 October, for a catalyst change, a company source said late on Thursday.

The plant called Zagros I will be down for around two months, the source said.

Zagros I is currently running at 85% of capacity, while Zagros II is operating at 95-100%, the source said.

“Once one plant is shut, there will be more natural gas available to the other plant, which then will run at more than 100%,” she said.

Zagros Petrochemical will not have any spot methanol available until after the catalyst change is completed in Zagros I. Zagros II was shut for maintenance on 3 July and was restarted in August.

More than half of Zagros Petrochemical’s methanol ouput is committed on contracts, the company source said. 

The shutdown of Zagros I is expected to tighten spot supply, particularly in India and China, traders said. 

The inconsistency of Iranian imports is a major price determinant in India, importers said, since Iran is one of the two largest suppliers of methanol to India.

Tight supply against good demand in the run-up to Diwali holiday in end-October could push prices beyond $400/tonne (€288/tonne) CFR (cost and freight) India, traders said.

Other major methanol producers in the region include Saudi Arabia’s SABIC and Oman Methanol.

($1 = €0.72)

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By: Heng Hui
+65 6780 4359

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