IPP solicits offers to buy, relocate methanol plant

International Process Plants (IPP) announced on Tuesday the immediate availability of a 500 tpd methanol plant.  

The plant has been recently modernized and has excellent turndown and expansion capability, according to company officials. IPP is currently soliciting offers to purchase and relocate the asset.

The plant is in excellent operating condition and was only shut down due to high feedstock (natural gas) costs in its current location, IPP said. Major modifications through 2009 have increased both the flexibility of the plant's operation and reliability. 

Engineering and major equipment are already in place to make the plant capable of producing 750 tpd, according to IPP officials. Depending on the required offtake, the plant also has the ability to run at anywhere from 40% to 100% utilization efficiently. The plant is well documented with full electronic records, production records, drawings, and diagrams.

Methanol producers or consumers looking to expand their operations, or backwardly integrate would be able to derive significant benefits from acquiring this asset from IPP, according to the company. 

Purchasing and relocating a second-hand facility generally results in a total project cost of approximately 50-60% of the cost of building a new plant, IPP says. Companies will also save time by using existing equipment and engineering when constructing a plant in a new location. It takes roughly three years to get a new plant of this type into operation, but by using this existing plant, dismantling it and reassembling it elsewhere, the new owner can cut that time in half.

"With the low cost of natural gas in the United States, a significant amount of stranded and associated gas that is not being monetized effectively or at all, and good market demand for methanol," said Ron Gale, president of IPP

"We believe that this plant represents an excellent opportunity to expand or start a methanol business in the US, and elsewhere where feedstock costs might also be low," he added.

Operating this plant, according to preliminary research, should yield in an approximately $200/ton net profit margin at today's spot price, according to IPP officials.