Methanol: 2017 Review and 2018 Outlook (II)

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Methanol: Summary of 2017 and Outlook for 2018 (Part II) Author/Source: Date: 2018-01-08 Clicks: 9 I. The new production capacity added in 2017 was mainly concentrated in Shandong Province (with an increase of around 1.6 million to 8 million tons, representing a 25% increase compared to the previous year; this kept the province in 3rd place nationwide). The overall growth rate of production capacity slowed down, with a compound annual growth rate of only 4% over the past four years; however, the level of scale-up increased. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180108/112454104521.jpg http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180108/1135424174255.jpg http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180108/1136174177795.jpg II. Imports have had a significant impact on China’s coastal areas; this year’s import volume is lower than expected, at around 8.3 million tons, a decrease of 500,000 tons compared to the previous year (the imports mainly come from the Middle East). Jiangsu Province saw a notable increase in imports. The Bohai Rim region (including Liaoning, Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, and Tangshan in Hebei) may become a new area of growth. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180108/113716418369.jpg http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180108/113747418671.jpg http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180108/1138174189718.jpg http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180108/1138564193639.jpg III. Due to environmental regulations and policies such as the shift from coal to gas, there has been a surge in demand for methanol as a fuel. Over the past five years, the compound annual growth rate of traditional downstream demand in China has been -3.5%, while demand in emerging sectors has been as high as around 40%. http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180108/1139524199256.jpg http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180108/1140224202253.jpg http://img.yf116.cn/image/img/20180108/1140524205238.jpg