China one of the leading consumer and manufacturer has been facing issues in its petrochemical industry. The consumption of natural gas has been increasing in China as government is focusing on more use of gas rather than coal. This in turn has led to heavy consumption. Now in winter all the major supplies has been diverted to local applications. All the major natural gas based units are located at Sichuan, Chongqing, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai and Xinjiang. China’s methanol capacity based on coal reached 59.91 million mt/yr as of Nov 2017, taking up to 70.8% of entire capacity; that based on coke oven gas at 14.46 million mt/yr, accounting for 16.7%; and that fed by natural gas at 10.52 million mt/yr, occupying 12.4%. All the major units based at Xinjiang, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia and Sichuan has either shut down their production or has been kept idle. The units will start only after winter is surpassed in the country. This in turn has led to continuous surge in Methanol values in international as well as domestic market.
