October 20, 2022 [Reuters] – Announcing the anniversary, Methanex said: “An investment in a terminal site around 25 years ago in Korea has supported our strong market position in the Asia Pacific region.

“We’ve got an extensive network of terminals around the world that allows us to reliably supply our customers with methanol. At those terminals, we offload our vessels, then transport the methanol to on-site storage tanks before sending it to our customers inland via pipeline, rail, truck or using inland waterways via barges. In some cases, product is transferred to smaller vessels that can deliver product to customers at smaller ports.”

“From the moment our product leaves our manufacturing facility, it’s a highly coordinated process planned well in advance by regional and global teams to ensure our customers’ needs are always met,” said Francisco Guevara, manager of global supply chain.

Most of the terminals are owned and operated by third parties, and Methanex works with them to educate workers and emergency responders on the safe handling of methanol. The exception to this is in Yeosu, Korea, where Methanex built and owns some terminal infrastructure.

In 1998, it partnered with Yeosu Tank Terminal Corporation (YTT), which owns and operates the terminal in Yeosu, to build our own tanks and segments of pipeline.

This agreement was signed to meet growing demand in the Asia Pacific region.

“A methanol supply hub was established at YTT in Yeosu through Methanex’s investment, which has allowed both our companies grow and co-exist together to create value,” said JW Shim, president and owner of YTT.

The Yeosu terminal investment doubled the site’s capacity.

Methanex’s network in the Asia Pacific region. Product is shipped directly to main ports in China and Korea, from its plants around the world. Yeosu is a hub to serve our customers in Korea, Japan and other customers in the region who can only be accessed from smaller ports.

Korea’s Yeosu region in particular is a key strategic market for Methanex. It’s an industrial manufacturing area where methanol is in high demand, and it has been building and maintaining strong relationships with customers there for 30 years.

“We hold a significant competitive advantage over methanol producers located in Asia Pacific, because we are able to provide a steady, reliable supply of methanol from our network of plants around the world to our customers through having a hub terminal in Yeosu, where we have significant storage capacity,” says Candy Chan, vice president of marketing and logistics for Asia.