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Methanex looks at start up of half Motunui methanol plant
25 March 2008 - Methanex is looking at the possibility of restarting part of the mothballed Motunui methanol plant in Taranaki.
The Vancouver-based methanol producer says in its December quarter report that it is currently in discussions to secure natural gas to extend production from 530,000 tonne per year Waitara Valley plant, or possibly commence operations at Motunui.
Methanex says that if it uses Motunui, one of the large 900,000 tonne per year units would be started up.
“The future of our New Zealand operations continues to be dependent upon methanol industry supply and demand and the ability to secure natural gas on commercially acceptable terms.”
Methanex says Waitara Valley currently has sufficient contracted gas to supply until at least mid 2008.
World methanol prices reached an all-time high in the last quarter of 2007 as planned and unplanned outages across the methanol industry including at Methanex’s largest facility in southern Chile created tight market conditions.
“Our average realized price for the fourth quarter of 2007 was US$514 (approximately NZ$635) per tonne compared with US$270 per tonne for the third quarter of 2007 and US$460 per tonne for the fourth quarter of 2006,” Methanex says.
Bruce Aitken, president and CEO of Methanex says that despite the high methanol price environment, world methanol demand remained strong in both traditional chemical derivatives and new energy applications which benefited from record high energy prices.
