YCI Methanol One facility resumes production: sources

Koch's YCI 1.7 million mt/year YCI Methanol One facility has resumed production, market sources confirmed Aug. 11.

The St. James, Louisiana, facility had been shut down July 23, and was heard to have resumed production around Aug. 11, with sources saying the facility may reach 100% of nameplate capacity in the coming days.

One source Aug. 11 said that the facility "is running about as well as they have since start of commissioning." The facility was heard to have only reached 70%-75% capacity prior to the July 23 shutdown.

The company did not respond to requests for comment.

The restart comes as global methanol supply becomes increasingly tight.

The Natgasoline methanol production facility in Beaumont, Texas, was also offline, sources said Aug. 6.

The facility, which is a joint venture of Proman and OCI, has a total production capacity of 1.75 million mt/year.

A second source said that the facility was not yet back online, but it was intended to resume operations prior to Natgasoline's scheduled turnaround in September.

European supply has also been severely constrained, amid delayed turnarounds at Mider Helm and BP in Germany, and OCI's shutdown in the Netherlands amid high feedstock prices.

"Prices jump every day, the market is really tighter-than-anticipated and demand is steady for both August and September," a European trader said.

S&P Global Platts last assessed spot US methanol at 122 cents/gal FOB USG on Aug. 11, up 5 cents/b since Aug. 1, according to Platts data.