It was reported that due to high natural gas price in Iran, Kaveh and Kimiaya had to shut their methanol plants with combined capacity of 3.95 million mt/yr. As of Aug 15, methanol capacity amounted to 13.86 million mt/yr in Iran, with average operating rate at around 36%.

In a conclusion, methanol cargo arrivals to China are expected to reduce to about 1.3 million tons in Aug. If Sierbang restarts its MTO plant in Aug, the pressure of rising inventory of methanol could get alleviated.