Methanex Corporation announced that it has reached a final investment decision to proceed with the relocation of a second one million tonne per year methanol plant from its Chile site to Geismar, Louisiana.
The plant is expected to be operational by early 2016, and has an estimated total cost of approximately US$550 million.
John Floren, President and CEO of Methanex commented, "We are excited to move forward with the Geismar II project. We have made excellent progress with our first plant relocation, Geismar I, and that project is proceeding on schedule and on budget.
"The first shipment of equipment has been loaded and is currently in transit to Louisiana. Methanex will leverage its experience gained from Geismar I to ensure a smooth execution for Geismar II."
Mr. Floren added, "The global demand outlook for methanol is very favourable and demand is expected to outpace capacity additions in the industry over the next several years. Relocating a second plant to Louisiana allows us to benefit quickly from the competitive natural gas price environment in North America and add additional molecules to our system to supply our customer's growing requirements for methanol.
"The two Geismar projects, combined with our other growth initiatives in New Zealand and Medicine Hat, represent three million tonnes of additional operating capacity which we believe will create significant value for shareholders."
Methanex is a Vancouver-based, publicly traded company and is the world's largest supplier of methanol to major international markets.
