North American posted contract prices for methanol appear set to rise for November, market sources said Wednesday, with expectations of a hike ranging from 4-9 cents/gal.
Firmer US spot pricing for much of the month contributed to expectations of higher contract levels, but the decline from the 11-month highs seen last week should limit the extent of the rise, sources said.
October North American posted methanol contract prices rose 5-8 cents to 88 cents/gal ($294/mt) FOB USG for Southern Chemical Corp. and 89 cents/gal ($297/mt) FOB USG for Methanex. With discounts and rebates averaging 15%, the net contract price for October came to 74.80-75.65 cents/gal.
US spot methanol pricing has risen 2.50 cents since September 29, the final announcement date for October contract pricing. S&P Global Platts assessed US methanol Wednesday at 81.25-81.75 cents/gal FOB USG for October and November, off the 11-month high of 84 cents/gal FOB USG seen at the start of last week.
Posted contract price announcements for methanol typically come out in the final week of the preceding month.
The spot discount to the average list contract price stood at 7 cents/gal Wednesday, down from the year-to-date average of 17.05 cents/gal and below the 2015 average of 23.95 cents/gal, Platts data showed.
Methanex ranks as the world's largest methanol producer by capacity. SCC serves as the US distributor for Methanol Holdings Trinidad, the largest producer in the Americas at 4.1 million mt/year.
