North American methanol production capacity from natural gas will increase significantly

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Thanks to the cheap energy and raw material supplies resulting from the development of shale gas, companies such as Southern Louisiana Methanol Company (SLM) in the United States, Methanex, LyondellBasell, OCI in Egypt, Celanese, and G2X are building new or restarting methanol production facilities using natural gas. Out of a desire to stabilize domestic prices, the United States imposes strict regulations on LNG exports ； This makes it feasible to convert cheap natural gas into methanol, which is easy to store and transport, and export it to the international market. The EIA predicts that natural gas prices in the United States will remain around $4 per mmBtu until 2018 (which is equivalent to about 1 yuan per cubic meter). At these raw material prices, the production cost of methanol is approximately $220 per ton. During 2011–2012, the average import price of methanol in China was 373 dollars per ton; even after adding shipping costs, there was still a considerable profit margin for exporting methanol from the United States to China. Yahua Consulting predicts that in the coming years, methanol production capacity in the United States will increase rapidly, which will alter the supply dynamics of methanol in the global market and make it easier for Chinese plants that use imported methanol to produce olefins to source their raw materials. In summary, the development of shale gas will have a positive impact on China’s supply of propane and methanol. :)