Celanese Will Build Texas Methanol Plant

Celanese plans to build a 1.3 million-­metric-ton-per-year methanol plant at its Clear Lake site in Texas. Some of the output of the plant, expected to open after mid-2015, will feed acetic acid and vinyl acetate operations at the site. The company expects to partner with one or more other entities interested in the remaining methanol. CEO Mark C. Rohr says the project is made possible by affordable natural gas. Many U.S. methanol producers shut down when natural gas prices were high. But in the past year, Methanex announced that it will move a methanol plant from Chile to Geismar, La., and LyondellBasell Industries said it will restart an idle methanol plant in Channelview, Texas.