Roughly 2 ½ years after Canadian methanol giant Methanex Corp. announced a $550 million effort to relocate a plant from Chile to a Geismar, the company announced this morning that production at the 1 million ton capacity facility has begun.
“We expect the plant to ramp up to full production rates over the coming weeks,” says Methanex President and CEO John Floren in a press release. “This accomplishment marks another key milestone in our 2013 commitment to grow our operating capacity by approximately three million tons over three years, and it will support our continued growth and strategic focus on global methanol leadership.”
Meanwhile, progress on a second plant relocation from Chile to Geismar continues, Floren says, with production expected at that plant in the first quarter of next year. Floren says the total cost for both relocations will be approximately $1.4 billion.
“We believe this represents a substantial schedule and cost savings relative to a new-build plant,” he says.
On the first plant relocation, Louisiana Economic Development is providing Methanex with an incentive package that includes performance-based grants of $3.8 million to offset infrastructure costs related to the project and $1.5 million to reimburse relocation expenses.
