North America's methanol industry was in danger of disappearing until a few years ago, but its fortunes have completely reversed. Three new methanol plants are slated to come onstream this year, another will start up next year, and IHS Chemical expects five more to begin production by 2020. More than a dozen other projects have also been announced, of which at least a few are likely to go forward. By the end of this decade, growing production will support a boom in exports, with much of the volume to be taken up by methanol-to-olefins (MTO) projects now under construction in China, IHS says.
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