At least two cargoes of methanol from Venezuela have been discharged at ports in Houston since October, ship-tracking data showed. The methanol was produced by Venezuela’s state-owned chemical company Pequiven and its foreign partner. The shipments represent the South American country’s efforts to boost revenues under US sanctions on its oil industry. Reuters reported that Mitsubishi Corp resumed methanol exports to the US this year from its Venezuelan joint venture Metor after being suspended for a couple of years.
Pequiven is one of Metor’s shareholders. In July, the company said that Metor was shipping methanol to South America, Europe, and Asia. Pequiven also has a 50:50 venture in Venezuela with Italy’s Eni called Supermetanol. Venezuela’s methanol exports ranged between 20,000 and 60,000 tons per month, mostly to the Netherlands, Spain, Japan, and China. Market participants said Venezuelan methanol traded significantly below US spot prices.
Pequiven and PDVSA have ramped up exports of petrochemicals and oil byproducts, including methanol, urea, natural gasoline, petroleum coke, sulfur pastilles, and light virgin naphtha. Their combined petrochemical and byproduct exports are estimated around 1.75 million tons during the first ten months of the year, on track to double last year’s total shipments of 1.03 million tons.
