US Celanese expects higher costs for Bishop methanol plant

HOUSTON (ICIS)–US Celanese said during its first-quarter earnings call on Friday that its proposed joint venture methanol plant with Mitsui would be more costly than its Clear Lake facility in Texas.

Celanese announced this week that the company was considering another joint venture methanol plant with Mitsui. This one would be in Bishop, Texas, at a capacity of 1.3m tonnes/year. The Clear Lake plant is under construction. It is on schedule to be complete by October with a capacity of 1.4m tonnes/year.

CEO Mark Rohr said the Bishop plant would likely be 10-20% more expensive than Clear Lake because there would not be as much existing equipment and technology that could be easily integrated at the Bishop site.

The company also said they would like to sit out some of the current volatility in the crude and methanol markets before making a final decision on the plant.