Methanol Facility Planned For Trinidad

Mitsubishi Gas Chemical and Mitsubishi Corp. have signed an agreement with the government of Trinidad & Tobago and local conglomerate Neal & Massy Holdings to build a chemical plant in the natural-gas-rich country. The partners plan an export-oriented methanol plant with 1 million metric tons of annual capacity and a 100,000-metric-ton-per-year plant for making dimethyl ether, a diesel substitute to be sold across the Caribbean. The parties expect to reach a final decision later this year and possibly open the plants in 2016. Last month, Saudi Basic Industries and Sinopec pulled out of a planned $5.3 billion methanol-to-olefins project in Trinidad (C&EN, March 11, page 14).