Methanex Corp. (Vancouver, B.C., Canada; www.methanex.com) announced that the company successfully started up its new methanol plant in Geismar, La. The plant’s capacity is 1 million metric tons per year (m.t./yr) methanol. The plant was relocated from the company’s production site in Punta Arenas, Chile.
John Floren, President and CEO of Methanex commented, “We are pleased to announce that our Geismar 1 plant has successfully started up on schedule and is producing methanol. We expect the plant to ramp up to full production rates over the coming weeks. This accomplishment marks another key milestone in our 2013 commitment to grow our operating capacity by approximately three million tonnes over three years, and it will support our continued growth and strategic focus on global methanol leadership. We continue to make excellent progress on the construction of our one million tonne Geismar 2 plant, and remain on target for methanol production from that facility in late Q1 2016.”
Mr. Floren added, “Our team has done an excellent job of keeping this complex undertaking of relocating two plants from Chile to Louisiana on schedule. The Responsible Care and safety performance during the different phases of the project has also been outstanding, showing that excellent results can be achieved with commitment and dedication. This project clearly demonstrates ‘The Power of Agility’ within our organization. A sincere thanks to all of the team members throughout the organization who have worked so hard to achieve this important milestone.”