Celanese plans to set up methanol unit at Texas facility

Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company, is planning to construct a methanol production unit at the company's Bishop, Texas, facility. Celanese is preparing to apply for the necessary environmental construction permits for a methanol unit with an expected annual capacity of 1.3 million tonnes at the company's Bishop facility. Construction of this unit in Bishop would be subject to receipt of economic incentives from government authorities. The methanol unit would utilise abundant, low-cost natural gas in the US Gulf Coast region as a feedstock and would benefit from the existing infrastructure at the site.
 
The Bishop methanol unit would be similar in scope and scale to the methanol unit under construction at the company's Clear Lake, Texas, integrated chemical plant.
 
“The strategic upstream production of methanol and the attractive economics of natural gas in the US Gulf Coast region - combined with the infrastructure at our Bishop facility - make this a unique opportunity for Celanese,” said Mark Rohr, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Celanese.
 
Celanese would also consider a joint venture structure for the Bishop methanol unit in a similar fashion to the joint venture methanol unit currently being constructed at the Clear Lake plant.
 
The company's Bishop facility, located between the communities of Kingsville and Bishop, Texas, is a world class manufacturing site for specialty chemicals, engineered materials and pharmaceutical products.