OCI Global sells methanol business to Methanex
Bio-methanol producer and supplier OCI Global has sold its entire methanol business to Canadian methanol leader Methanex for $2.05 billion.
PHOTO: OCI Beaumont is an integrated methanol and ammonia production facility located on the Gulf Coast near Beaumont, Texas in the US. OCI Global
The sale includes OCI’s methanol assets in the US and Europe, which include a 910,000 mt/year methanol plant and a 340,000 mt/year ammonia facility in Beaumont, Texas.
The transaction also includes OCI HyFuels, which produces and supplies bio-methanol for bunkering. OCI Hyfuels currently has a bio-methanol production capacity of up to 220,000 mt/year.
Methanex will also take ownership of OCI Global’s idle 1 million mt/year methanol facility in Delfzijl, Netherlands. OCI Global’s methanol business has “extensive distribution and storage capabilities near major industrial demand centres and key bunkering hubs,” the company said.
Methanex, which also supplies grey methanol for bunkering, recently bunkered a chemical tanker with an undisclosed quantity of grey methanol at the Port of Point Lisas on 21 August. The company operates a methanol plant in Trinidad and Tobago, producing approximately 1,085,000 mt/year of grey methanol using natural gas as feedstock.
The deal is valued at around $2.05 billion on a cash-free, debt-free basis and is expected to close in the first half of 2025. The transaction has received approval from both companies' boards of directors and is pending regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.
Methanex has not yet specified whether any methanol from the US or European facilities will be allocated to the shipping sector following the deal’s completion.
By Konica Bhatt
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