Mark Rohr, Chairman and CEO, Celanese Corporation.
DALLAS, US/TOKYO, JAPAN: Celanese Corporation and Mitsui & Co Ltd have signed an agreement to establish a 50:50 joint venture for the production of methanol at Celanese’s integrated chemical plant in Clear Lake, Texas, US. The planned methanol unit will utilize abundant, low-cost natural gas in the US Gulf Coast region as a feedstock and will benefit from the existing infrastructure at Celanese’s Clear Lake facility.
As a result, the total shared capital and expense investment in the facility is estimated to be approximately $800 million. Celanese’s portion of the investment is estimated to be approximately $300 million, in addition to the previously invested assets at the Celanese Clear Lake facility. The planned methanol facility will have an annual capacity of 1.3 million tonne and is expected to begin operations in mid-2015.
“We are excited to expand our Clear Lake operations to include the strategic upstream production of methanol. The attractive economics of natural gas in the US Gulf Coast region, combined with our existing infrastructure and an outstanding strategic partner in Mitsui, provides Celanese with this unique growth opportunity,” said Mark Rohr, Chairman and CEO, Celanese Corporation.
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