Four core issues affecting the future of China’s methanol industry

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Four core issues affecting the future of China's methanol industry The development of China's methanol industry has encountered unprecedented difficulties. Statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology show that in 2009, China's methanol production capacity reached 23.5 million tons, output reached 11.33 million tons, and the device operating rate was 48.2%. At present, it is very difficult for methanol enterprises to produce and operate. In addition, the board of directors of Tianmao Group stated that in the next few years, the domestic methanol industry will be in a period of severe surplus. At the same time, after development in recent years, the company has formed a production capacity of 500,000 tons/year of dimethyl ether. In the process of purchasing methanol raw materials, it has established good long-term and stable cooperative relationships with large-scale methanol production companies around the company, which can ensure the supply of raw material methanol required for the company's dimethyl ether production. It can be seen that the path of the methanol industry is very difficult. Four core issues affect the future of China's methanol industry.: 　　(1) Whether the rapid growth of downstream demand for methanol can absorb the new production capacity. The rapid economic growth has made my country need a large amount of methanol, but it is still unknown whether our country can digest the large number of new domestic production capacities. Although some companies have directly built some downstream devices, it is far from enough to rapidly expand the production capacity of digesting raw methanol. In the long run, this will inevitably lead to an oversupply of domestic methanol. 　　(2) The process of industrialization of methanol-to-olefins technology Methanol-to-olefins technology is a new use of methanol that everyone is optimistic about, but so far no real industrial device has been completed and put into production in the world. Many technologies are still being continuously improved. The entire methanol-to-olefins technology is still in the experimental stage, and there is still a certain distance from industrialization. 　　(3) Is China’s current methanol phenomenon overheated? Judging from various current statistical data, even if the planned methanol projects are not included, my country’s future methanol production capacity will be far greater than the demand. Under the conditions that methanol fuel, methanol to olefins and other technologies are not yet fully mature, new methanol projects need to be cautious. 　　(4) The competitiveness of methanol as an alternative energy source Whether methanol can be recognized by the market and develop rapidly as an alternative energy source also depends on its own competitiveness, that is, performance and cost. Where performance matches, replacement cost is key. Therefore, to develop the methanol industry, we must consider the comprehensive costs of its own substitution, including raw material costs, production costs, storage and transportation costs, sales costs, and environmental protection costs. Only when the comprehensive cost is lower than the replacement cost, can methanol development become a profitable industry. 　　There are two ways to develop the methanol industry.: On the one hand, new projects must be strictly controlled to promote the orderly and healthy development of the methanol industry. It is understood that many large chemical companies such as Shenhua, Sinopec, and Ordos Energy Chemical Co., Ltd. have invested in methanol projects. While the methanol projects are under construction, pollution is also a problem that cannot be ignored. In addition, small and medium-sized enterprises are reminded not to blindly follow the trend and put into production methanol projects. Methanol projects can only be put into production when conditions permit and all links remain smooth. 　　On the other hand, we should speed up structural adjustment and improve the competitiveness of the industry. In addition, we will vigorously develop methanol energy technology and new methanol application technologies to realize the transformation of resource advantages into product advantages. In summary, after discovering the four core problems of the methanol industry, the future development direction of methanol has been determined. In the near future, the methanol industry is bound to develop well.