On February 21, China Nitrogen Fertilizer Industry Association held the 2022 China methanol industry conference in Hangzhou to summarize the work of methanol industry in 2021 and analyze and discuss the methanol market and development trend in 2022. On the same day, China nitrogen fertilizer industry association commended the top 20 national methanol production enterprises in 2021 and advanced energy-saving enterprises in the methanol industry.
Gu zongqin, President of China nitrogenous fertilizer industry association, pointed out at the meeting that at present, the development of methanol is facing positive factors such as the recovery of the world economy, the steady rise of international oil prices, the continuous increase of downstream product consumption and the easing of overcapacity. However, we should also see the adverse factors and still face many challenges.
Gu zongqin believes that with the economic recovery of various countries, the demand for chemical products will inevitably increase, which will further drive the recovery of methanol prices. At the same time, the recovery of international oil prices will drive the rise of foreign methanol prices, help to improve the competitiveness of domestic coal based methanol production, and will also strongly support domestic prices.
The consumption data in recent ten years show that the growth of methanol consumption in China is roughly more than 10% every year. Gu zongqin predicted that the growth of methanol consumption in the next few years will also maintain the previous trend for three reasons: first, the pilot work of methanol vehicles will continue; Secondly, alcohol based fuels for boilers and stoves as clean substitutes for coal can greatly improve air quality; Third, the consumption of methanol downstream products will continue to grow, and coal to olefin is still the main direction of the development of the industry. In addition, new downstream products are still being researched and developed, such as toluene methanol methylation to produce p-xylene.
However, China’s methanol industry still faces a series of challenges. Gu zongqin said that the task of removing production capacity this year is still arduous, the development of upstream and downstream is still unbalanced, the pressure on safety and environmental protection continues to escalate, and the price of raw materials is facing rising pressure.
Although the methanol units that have stopped production for two consecutive years are more than 9 million tons / year, involving more than 120 production enterprises. However, Gu zongqin pointed out that with the improvement of the market, some old production capacity with high energy consumption, high emission and backward devices may be driven. In addition, a large number of new units are still put into operation and technological transformation and capacity expansion every year, resulting in a high rate of increase in methanol production capacity, and the task of eliminating backward production capacity is very arduous.
The pressure of safety and environmental protection in methanol industry will continue to escalate. Gu zongqin said that as a chemical enterprise with high energy consumption and high emission, methanol enterprises are facing great pressure from many aspects, such as the significant rise of environmental protection treatment costs and power costs, as well as the shutdown and production restriction according to the emission reduction requirements during the emergency response period.
In order to realize the high-quality development of methanol industry, Gu zongqin proposed to do a good job in five aspects this year: continue to do a good job in reducing production capacity; Accelerate the adjustment of product structure, expand the industrial chain, and improve product added value and market competitiveness; Accelerate the popularization and application of advanced technology and promote the technological progress of the industry; Further improve the level of energy conservation and emission reduction in the industry; Actively carry out international exchanges and cooperation.
Junyuan Petroleum Group has made remarkable achievements in tapping energy-saving potential, deepening energy conservation and emission reduction and improving energy utilization, Won the title of “advanced enterprise in energy conservation in methanol industry in 2021”.