30 Years of Methanex

Methanex New Zealand Managing Director Stuart McCall looks back at the company’s proud history in the country but is excited about what the future will bring.

Methanex will celebrate its global 30th anniversary this spring after it was established in 1992.

The Canadian-based company entered New Zealand when it bought Fletcher Challenge Methanol in May 1993. It acquired the Motunui natural gas to gasoline and the Waitara Valley methanol plants, and also picked up the storage and loading assets at Omata and Port Taranaki.

The Motunui site was originally crafted by Synfuels between 1982 to 1985. The company was a joint venture between the New Zealand government and Mobil, set up to reduce its dependency on foreign oil supplies and made the most of the Maui gas field discovery.

About four kilometres away, the Waitara Valley methanol plant was built between

1981 and 1983. It was originally owned by Petroleum Corporation of New Zealand, known as Petrocorp.

McCall appreciates the history across the two sites and what the business has brought to the community.

“It started as one of the ‘think big’ projects from the New Zealand government at the time and grew to being a key contributor to the Taranaki economy,” he said.

Today, Methanex contributes around 10 percent of Taranaki’s GDP or close to a billion dollars annually and employs approximately 240 people. In addition to creating jobs and economic opportunities, the company is committed to building and supporting healthy communities where people want to live and work.

In 2021, Methanex New Zealand supported many local organisations and offered employees volunteer time to community efforts.

McCall is quick to point out the societal benefits that methanol brings to everyday life.

“You only have to look at methanol’s use in everyday items like paints, carpets, fabric, building materials, and a variety of health and pharmaceutical products. Methanol is a key ingredient in all these

items that we take for granted. It’s an essential ingredient for everyday life.”

He said methanol is also used as a cleaner burning fuel that is gaining significant interest as a lower emission marine fuel. The company’s own shipping subsidiary, Waterfront Shipping, will have over 60% of its fleet capable of running on methanol by the end of 2023 and other large shipping companies like Maersk have also started to order methanol-fuelled vessels to help them on their decarbonisation journey. The use of our methanol as a marine fuel would be equivalent to removing all of New Zealand’s cars from our roads from an air pollution perspective.

The future is bright for the company. McCall said the demand for methanol continues to grow, both as a cleaner burning fuel and to support the transition to a low carbon economy through its use as a chemical building block for many products, including electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines, as well as in energy-efficient buildings.

Over the last thirty years, Methanex has grown from a single production facility to the world’s largest producer and supplier of methanol to major international markets in Asia Pacific, North America, Europe and South America.

To learn more, visit methanex.com

Will Johnston

Photos courtesy of Kowhia & Thistle