Home > Chemical News

Chemical News

Plant shutdowns in Egypt, Oman fail to prop up China methanol prices

https://www.chemnet.com   Nov 16,2011 Platts
Asian methanol prices, which have been under pressure since mid-October from high inventory levels and weak downstream demand in China, are unlikely to find any support from recent plant shutdowns in the Middle East, said market sources Tuesday.

Canada-based Methanex's Damietta plant in Egypt was shut unexpectedly Monday for a week, following "unrest that has affected various industries [in the region]," the company's CEO said in statement Monday.

On the other hand, Oman's Salalah Methanol Company's plant was shut earlier on October 13 for three weeks.

Though production loss is equivalent to around 25,000 mt for the Methanex plant and approximately 60,000 mt for the SMC plant due to the shutdowns, traders said they will fail to support the falling CFR China methanol prices.

The day after the SMC plant was shut, CFR China methanol prices rose $3/mt to $420/mt, but started falling again after that.

On Monday, the CFR China methanol price was assessed at $373/mt, down $1/mt from last Friday.

On Tuesday morning, traders pegged the domestic price in East China at Yuan 2,900/mt, or $364/mt, down from Monday's assessed price of Yuan 2,945/mt.

There were very few inquiries seen Tuesday morning, as buyers shied away amid a falling market, while sellers declined to offer to avoid selling down. A notional buying idea was seen at $365/mt, with a notional ex-tank offer at $375/mt.

 Print  |    add to Favorites  |    Close