Methanol is rightly considered as one of the most significant products in the chemical industry. Its application fields are rather diverse, with the fuel and power industry being perhaps the most far-reaching one. The production of methanol has been on the move towards higher levels worldwide. The world production capacity soared from 38.6 million tpy in 2002 to 49.2 million tpy in 2007, showing a 27% increase.
Today, there are nine companies in Russia engaged in the production of methyl alcohol. In 2007, they turned out 3,532,000 tonnes of the product. Russia does not import methyl alcohol at all, exporting about a half of its total output instead. A wide range of issues, covering various aspects of the world methanol market, were addressed at the International Conference «Methanol and its Derivatives 2008» held by Creon CJSC in Moscow on 6 October. Reading our article, you are sure to find a lot of revealing data concerning the Russian methanol market and its outlook.