Mitsui, Celanese launch new Texas methanol plant
10/16/2015 12:00:00 AM
Mitsui & Co. announced Friday that Fairway Methanol LLC, a 50-50 joint venture between Mitsui and US-based chemicals company Celanese, commenced production of methanol at its planned annual production capacity of 1.3 million tons.
In addition to access to reliable supplies of affordable gas feedstocks thanks to the US shale revolution, project officials also expect to benefit from the use of existing infrastructure belonging to Celanese situated in Pasadena, Texas.
Mitsui and Celanese will each take a portion of the methanol produced, with Mitsui planning to sell the methanol mainly in the US. Demand for methanol is expected to remain steady, the company says.
Mitsui says it is utilizing its shale gas business in the US as the starting point for expanding the scope of its downstream activities in the gas value chain, including chemicals and infrastructure.
"In combination with the upstream gas production business, we can build a strong and stable business portfolio less susceptible to the impact of gas price fluctuations," the company said in a statement.
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