Global methanol industry leader Methanex Corporation, headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, has announced plans to indefinitely shutter its 860,000-tonne annual capacity Titan methanol facility in Point Lisas, Trinidad and Tobago, after failing to reach a new natural gas supply agreement with local authorities. The plant’s existing contract is set to expire this coming September, triggering the planned shutdown process. The facility currently employs more than 100 local workers.
In an official corporate statement, Methanex confirmed it will launch a comprehensive preservation program for the Titan plant, designed to keep the option open for a future restart if market and supply conditions improve significantly. This marks the second Methanex facility in the region to be placed in long-term idled storage: the company’s Atlas methanol plant, a joint venture where Methanex holds a 63.1% economic stake, has already remained indefinitely idled in a preserved state since 2024.
Rich Sumner, president and chief executive officer of Methanex, framed the shutdown as a difficult but necessary strategic choice to protect long-term shareholder value. “Trinidad and Tobago has been part of our company’s history for decades, and our local team there has been outstanding,” Sumner said. “This decision reflects the challenging operating environment we face: structurally imbalanced natural gas supply and demand in the country has made continued commercial operation unviable.”
Sumner added that company leadership held extensive discussions with both the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC) ahead of finalizing the idling plan. “We recognize and appreciate their ongoing work to address the country’s natural gas supply challenges,” he noted. “We will continue to monitor market and policy developments closely, and we plan to reassess our position over the coming years. Right now, our top priority is supporting our affected team members through this transition and completing the idling and preservation process safely.”
The Titan facility is already not contributing to Methanex’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) or adjusted free cash flow, the company confirmed. Methanex also noted it does not expect to incur significant cash costs as a direct result of the shutdown decision. Any adjustments to production or financial guidance will be released alongside the company’s regular second quarter 2026 financial results, scheduled for publication on July 28. Methanex is a publicly traded company listed on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market, and it holds the title of the world’s largest methanol supplier.
This shutdown is not the first disruption for the Titan plant. The company idled Titan back in March 2020 in response to collapsing global methanol demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2024, Methanex chose to idle the larger Atlas facility due to persistent gas shortages, and restarted operations at the smaller Titan plant to allocate limited gas supplies to what was then its most viable local asset.
Reached for comment by local media, Trinidad and Tobago’s Energy Minister Dr. Roodal Moonilal only confirmed he had seen Methanex’s press release via WhatsApp, and did not provide any further statement. Multiple requests for additional comment from former prime minister and past energy minister Stuart Young and NGC chairman Gerald Ramdeen went unanswered as of press time.
Methanex’s exit of the Titan plant marks the second departure of a major international energy operator from Trinidad and Tobago in recent months. In October last year, agricultural fertilizer giant Nutrien began a controlled shutdown of its nitrogen operations at the Point Lisas facility, citing both port access restrictions imposed by the country’s National Energy Corporation and a long-running lack of reliable, affordable natural gas that had left the operation unprofitable. By May of this year, Nutrien had launched a formal process to sell off all its Trinidad and Tobago assets.
Back in May, Methanex had already publicly signaled it was weighing all possible outcomes for its operations amid uncertain gas contract negotiations with NGC. Speaking during an earnings call with investors on May 7, Sumner noted that the company was open to a short-term supply deal or a potential idling, and that the final outcome would depend entirely on negotiations with NGC.
At that time, Sumner emphasized that Trinidad and Tobago remains an “extremely tight gas market”, with all major sectors including liquefied natural gas, ammonia, and methanol operating well below their full production capacity. He also highlighted ongoing uncertainty surrounding plans to import additional natural gas from neighboring Venezuela, noting that any new supply from the country is still years away, and carries significant commercial risk for methanol producers. “There’s a lot for us to consider as we watch developments moving forward,” he said in May.