Methanex begins methanol production at Louisiana plant

Bobbie Clark

26-Jan-2015

Methanex begins methanol production at Louisiana plantHOUSTON (ICIS)–Canada-based methanol producer Methanex has started production at its Geismar 1 plant in Louisiana, the company said on Monday.

The plant was relocated from Punta Arenas, Chile. It has a capacity of 1m tonnes/year.

Methanex CEO John Floren said the plant will ramp up to full production over the next few weeks.

“The Geismar 1 plant was completed over roughly a two and a half year period,” Floren said. “Our estimated total cost for the completion of the two Geismar plants remains approximately $1.4bn. We believe this represents a substantial schedule and cost savings relative to a new-build plant.”

The Geismar 2 facility, which also has a capacity of 1m tonnes/day, is on schedule to begin methanol production in the first quarter of 2016, Floren added.

This is Methanex’s first methanol plant in the US, where there are six additional plants operating with a capacity of about 2.4m tonnes.

Once it is running at full capacity, the Geismar 1 plant will be the largest operating methanol plant in the country.

This startup comes at a time when OCI has planned to shutdown its Beaumont plant for a debottlenecking project that will increase its capacity to 912,000 tonnes/year from 730,000 tonnes/year.

LyondellBasell, Millenium Petrochemicals, Eastman Chemical, Air Products and Praxair are other US methanol producers, according to ICIS plants and projects.

READ MORE

Global News + ICIS Chemical Business (ICB)

See the full picture, with unlimited access to ICIS chemicals news across all markets and regions, plus ICB, the industry-leading magazine for the chemicals industry.

Contact us

Now, more than ever, dynamic insights are key to navigating complex, volatile commodity markets. Access to expert insights on the latest industry developments and tracking market changes are vital in making sustainable business decisions.

Want to learn about how we can work together to bring you actionable insight and support your business decisions?

Need Help?

Need Help?