Published on December 19, 2017
Methanol prices are moving up with very fast velocity in Asia.
In domestic market methanol prices have escalated to Rs 33.5/kg as of 18th Dec. In China market methanol prices also have increased on limited availability of material.
Market players have said that methanol supply stiffed as several methanol plants in Asia are shut or remain closed. China Shipments decreased and inventory in East China runs low.
In China market, feedstock natural gas availability is firm as some regions are changing from coal to electricity or natural gas for heating. Some natural gas-based methanol plants in Southwest are closed. Demand for methanol in fuel application enlarges and domestic product inventory is decreasing.
As per market analyst, the heightened shortage of supply will remain same in near term as demand is increasing for feedstock methanol from fuel and other industry users and cargo in East China will remain tight. Moreover, some domestic methanol-to-olefins plants cut operating rates or shut down but do not affect cargo availability much.
