MMSA Methanol Notes are one-page summaries of items critical to the methanol and derivatives industries, issued Monday evenings Singapore time. Topics range broadly and include notices and brief overviews of ongoing MMSA updates to its supply and demand forecasts, price forecasts, methanol affordability analysis, MTO economics, and much more. Please browse a list of historic topics below.
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52-week Methanol Notes Index
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MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-12-05
MTO economics remain stable, as they have for several months, helping revive the significant buying potential of methanol….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-11-28
MMSA has developed prices for conventional methanol bunkers and conventional methanol energy equivalents….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-11-21
US lumber prices have maintained levels which on par mirror those of methanol, with 5-year average ratios….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-11-14
Apparent demand (net imports plus production) in China moved toward positive annualized growth. Domestic….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-11-07
The China cost curve continues to provide a strong floor under methanol prices, as coal prices rose through….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-10-24
United States (US) D4 RIN consumption figures through September 2023 remain encouraging for methanol consuming forms of….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-10-17
Since the import and transit ban placed on Russian methanol to the European Union and UK as those countries sanctioned….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-10-10
Over the past three months, profitability for a hypothetical Middle Eastern MTBE producer remains at all-time high levels as costs to….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-10-03
MMSA supply and demand balances for the 2023 Methanol and Derivative (MDA) service have been updated and uploaded to client….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-09-26
Southeast Asia biodiesel production and consumption looks to regain its momentum in a post-COVID period, as the two biggest producing….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-09-19
As 2023 adds more days of history to its books, estimates of 2023E US methanol apparent demand show that the need for the simple alcohol…..
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-09-12
The European Quarterly Contract Price (EU CP) is a reference for most methanol bought and sold under contract terms in….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-09-05
MTO economics moved towards stable ground in August 2023. Methanol market prices are now in a tenuous “sweet spot” as affordability….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-08-29
MMSA assessment of European apparent methanol demand through December 2023 confirms market is lagging. Apparent….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-08-22
US lumber prices, now using a new contract, are falling at a pace similar to that of methanol, and 5-year average ratios of methanol……
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-08-15
Global methanol prices continue to bounce along marginal costs to supply in China. While China has begun to show modest signs of a return to growth……
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-08-08
China’s methanol production continues to sag as economics continue to suffer, and imports are not rising sufficiently, suggesting a limited…..
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-08-01
The China cost curve continues to provide a strong floor under methanol prices. For many of the operators…..
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-07-25
MMSA supply and demand balances for the 2023 Methanol and Derivative (MDA) service have been updated….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-07-18
United States (US) D4 RIN consumption figures through May 2023 remain encouraging….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-07-11
Since June 18th, the full effect of EU sanctions has been felt in Moscow with the import and transit ban on….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-07-04
Over the past three months, profitability for a hypothetical Middle Eastern MTBE producer remains…
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-06-27
With the benefit of increased data, prior (and rosier) estimates of 2023E US methanol demand are coming…
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-06-20
Since 2020, MMSA has been performing a detailed analysis of daily methanol shipments, tracking vessels known to carry methanol, including 140+…
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-06-13
The European Quarterly Contract Price (EU CP), a metric often cited by MMSA is used as a reference for most methanol bought and sold under….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-06-06
The 2023 Canadian Petrochemical Summit provided an occasion to present an overview of recent MMSA findings as published….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-05-30
MMSA assessment of European apparent methanol demand through June 2023 confirms market is lagging. Apparent demand…
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-05-23
US lumber prices continue to fall at a pace faster than methanol, with 5-year average ratios of methanol versus….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-05-16
Olefins markets appear stuck in a rut with little change. MTO competitiveness versus naphtha-based olefins remained steady for a….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-05-09
Global methanol prices continue to bounce along marginal costs to supply in China. While China has begun to show modest signs of a return….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-05-02
Chinese methanol producers have had some yet not all of the weight of high coal prices lifted, keeping the world’s methanol price floor….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-04-25
Global MMSA supply and demand balance updates marking the first installment of 2023 Methanol and Derivative (MDA) service have been uploaded to client dashboards….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-04-18
United States (US) D4 RIN consumption figures through early 2023 are encouraging for both biodiesel with and without methanol. Data through….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-04-11
With the 9th package of sanctions against Russia and Belarus taking effect in January 2023, exports from Russia have stepped back significantly, although….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-04-04
Profitability for a hypothetical Middle Eastern MTBE producer moved to all-time high levels as costs to produce fell and market prices rallied. Supply of the ether….
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-03-28
With limited available calendar year data, it appears, on the surface, that US methanol demand is taking a much different tack than it has the past two years. Year on…..
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-03-21
With only scant data available as 2023 gets underway, China methanol production is at sub maximum levels, with few signs that apparent demand has changed……
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-03-14
The European Quarterly Contract Price (EU CP), which is referred by MMSA and other price reporting agencies, is used as reference for most of the methanol……
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-03-07
MTO competitiveness versus naphtha-based olefins remained steady for a 3rd consecutive month, and both naphtha and MTO remain only marginally profitable. MTO-based ethylene costs…..
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-02-28
Global methanol spot prices moved in mixed directions a 2nd straight week. Asia was mixed, EU up slightly, while the US slipped down. The final Feb ‘23 MMSA NEA/SEA NTR is USD…..
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-02-21
US lumber prices remain near their floors as the supply and demand balance resets. Meanwhile, relatively flat methanol pricing continues. Thus 5-year average ratios of methanol versus lumber pricing remain well…..
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-02-14
MMSA assessment of European apparent methanol demand through December 2022 confirms deteriorating market conditions after a strong first half to the year. Apparent demand (a combination of in-region production plus imports) is at…..
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-02-07
Southeast Asia biodiesel production and consumption are struggling to increase despite of the headwinds of Ukrain war, the long and tough lockdowns in China in the past three years, driven by non-ester forms of fuel in…..
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-01-31
Global methanol prices have not enjoyed the run-up that most other commodities have after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Ample supply, artificially maintained in China, combined with a slowdown in demand growth globally in…..
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-01-24
Events in Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad) natural gas markets may prove pivotal to global methanol markets in 2023. Trinidad is second to the United States in methanol production capability in the Atlantic Basin, a key supplier to…..
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-01-17
United States (US) D4 RIN consumption continues to rise, with more than all of the growth coming from biodiesel which does not contain methanol. Data through November 2022 show that production and biodiesel market…..
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-01-10
As expected, the Russian methanol industry has suffered post its invasion of Ukraine. Plagued with a domestic recession, the Russian economy also suffers from reduced exports to its main partner Europe,…..
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2023-01-03
MMSA supply and demand balance updates for the 2022 Methanol and Derivative (MDA) service have been uploaded to client dashboards. 2022 global demand growth estimates have shrunk to …..
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2022-12-27
As 2022 ends, it is clearer that US methanol apparent demand will suffer a year-on-year decline. Production over the same period is much higher, forcing reliance …..
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2022-12-20
As 2022 comes to a close, Chinese methanol demand continues to disappoint, thanks to slowed growth in the MTO sector and dismal performance in most other sectors of demand. However, the…..
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2022-12-13
Chinese methanol producers continue to suffer under the weight of high coal prices, keeping the world’s methanol price floor near record highs. Other global producers with lower operating …..
MMSA Methanol Notes – 2022-12-06
In a manner described in earlier Notes™, MMSA continues extensive efforts in evaluating the role of methanol in the energy transition. In addition to modeling all major current and proposed……