The methanol industry in our country has achieved remarkable results during the 14th Five-Year Plan period

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According to Sinochem News, from May 20th to 21st, the 2026 Methanol Industry Development Conference was held in Yulin, Shaanxi. Gu Zongqin, the legal representative of the China Nitrogen Fertilizer Industry Association, said in his speech at the conference that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China’s methanol industry made breakthrough advances in terms of scale expansion, structural optimization, technological innovation, and green transformation, laying a solid foundation for high-quality development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. The scale of the industry continues to grow. “During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China will add 30.435 million tons per year of methanol production capacity, while 8.09 million tons per year of capacity will be phased out. By the end of 2025, China’s total methanol production capacity will reach 115 million tons per year, with output amounting to 99.93 million tons – representing increases of 26.4% and 37.6% respectively compared to 2020 – thus maintaining its position as the world’s leader in both production capacity and output. Coal-based methanol maintains its dominant position. Based on China’s energy and resource endowments, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, most new methanol production facilities in the country will use coal as raw material. The capacity for methanol production from coal will reach 91.92 million tons per year, accounting for 79.6% of the total production capacity – a 30% increase compared to 2020, with an average annual growth rate of 4.4%. The capacity for producing methanol from natural gas, coke oven gas, and other waste gases accounts for only 6.8% and 13.3% respectively, resulting in a methanol production landscape in China that is dominated by coal. At the same time, by adopting new technologies and phasing out outdated processes, significant progress has been made in reducing energy consumption and pollutant emissions. The overall technical level of the industry is continuously improving. “During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, a number of large-scale and high-efficiency technologies and equipment achieved breakthroughs and were successively applied in production, enabling methanol plants to reach new levels in terms of scale, production efficiency, and operational stability. In terms of individual plants, the capacity of coal-to-methanol plants has increased from 1.8 million tons per year to 2.8 million tons per year, making them the largest in the world ； In terms of the overall scale of the industry, the methanol production capacity of 1 million tons per year or more amounts to 57.66 million tons per year, accounting for 49.9% of the total production capacity, a figure that represents an increase of 52.1% compared to 2020. The methanol production of these enterprises in 2025 reached 56.837 million tons, accounting for 56.9% of the total production, representing a 52.1% increase compared to 2020 ； In terms of operating rates, the overall operating rate across the industry has also increased significantly, reaching 86.5%, an increase of 7.1 percentage points compared to 2020. Demand for downstream products of methanol is growing rapidly. By 2025, the apparent consumption of methanol is expected to exceed 114 million tons, representing a 33.4% increase compared to 2020, with an average annual growth rate of 6.6%. In the downstream consumption sector, olefin production from coal (methanol) is the main driver behind the increase in methanol consumption, accounting for as much as 48.9%. By 2025, China’s methanol-to-olefins production capacity will reach 21.57 million tons per year, of which 6.1 million tons per year will come online during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. The methanol-to-olefins project has promoted the expansion of the downstream industrial chain for methanol. Due to its economic advantages and environmental benefits, methanol fuel is seeing an expanding range of applications, becoming a new engine for growth ； Driven by the rapid development of the new materials industry, formaldehyde and acetic acid still hold an important position in downstream consumption of methanol. Positive progress has been made in the green methanol industry. Gu Zongqin pointed out that the 14th Five-Year Plan represents a crucial phase during which China’s green methanol industry moves from the demonstration stage to the early stages of scale-up. A group of pioneers has completed the full-cycle validation in the field of green methanol, covering repeated research and demonstration, technical breakthroughs, project construction, and commercial operation. By 2025, China will have established a green methanol production capacity of 320,000 tons per year, paving a new path for the industry to achieve its \"dual carbon\" goals.