Methanol "expansion" situation eased

It is understood that on November 26, 2012, the stock level of methanol enterprises in the northwestern region of China this year was basically the same as last year. In addition, a considerable number of enterprises began to increase their storage capacity significantly. Before that, due to the “expansion of warehouses”, the situation of price cuts had to be reduced.

The spot price has dropped sharply a few days ago and has now stabilized. Xu Tao, a senior analyst at Zhengzhou Securities, said that the spot price of methanol in the northwest region may have fallen significantly this year, and the impact on the spot price of methanol in East China will also be reduced.

The headquarters is located in Inner Mongolia Boyuan Holding Group Co., Ltd. in Dongsheng District, Ordos City. It is the most representative natural gas chemical company in Ordos and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The company's main business is natural alkaloids, natural gas and coal chemical products, with capital operations and Petrochemical logistics is an auxiliary business. The Group currently owns the largest methanol production base in the country. Its member company Yuanxing Energy Co., Ltd. owns four sets of methanol production facilities. The total production capacity is approximately 1.33 million tons. There is a total of 100,000 tons of methanol storage tanks in the plant area. Methanol for natural gas, and a dedicated line for methanol transportation railways. Jia Shuan, general manager of Yuanxing Energy Co., Ltd., told reporters that due to the backward production capacity of domestic methanol equipment and high energy consumption, the operating rate has been greatly reduced, and some production capacity has already been eliminated. At present, the company's mono-alcohol devices have been put into production at full capacity and the starting load is high. According to reports, companies in the region are more optimistic about downstream demand, and the rise in the methanol utilization rate is a common phenomenon.

During the inspection, the reporter learned that due to the snowfall weather in the previous few days, the shipment of goods in the region was blocked, and there was a slight increase in the inventory of local methanol companies. According to a local methanol business person, the shipment of methanol from the region to Inner Mongolia is mainly transported by car. In Shandong and Northeast China, it needs to be transported by rail. However, the impact of rain and snow weather on highways and rail transport has been generally limited in recent days, and the increase in inventory due to weather conditions will soon be eased.

According to related analysts, since the fourth quarter, due to the impact of real estate control policies, the largest demand-side methanol downstream formaldehyde has been characterized as "not busy during the peak season and even lighter off-season." However, driven by the emerging downstream demand for dimethyl ether, methanol gasoline, and methanol to olefins, methanol terminal demand has been steadily recovering.

“The downstream market demand is not so weak.” Wei Jiangping, marketing director of Yuanxing Energy Co., Ltd. believes that the downstream demand for methanol is broad and scattered, and the demand status of each species is relatively independent. It may be that the demand for a downstream species will be compared within a certain period. Weakness, but methanol prices are less affected by the overall downturn in downstream demand.

Xu Tao believes that in the current environment of basic balance between supply and demand, it is necessary to pay close attention to the situation of methanol in the northwest region. Once the phenomenon of "expansion of warehouses," the price of methanol in the northwest region will drop significantly, and methanol prices in eastern China will be affected accordingly. .