Methanex Shutters NZ Operations Amid Gas Supply Decline

Methanex, New Zealand's largest gas user and sole methanol manufacturer, is shutting down its operations in the country due to declining natural gas supply. The company will close its Taranaki plant after more than three decades of operation, citing 'no clear path to meaningful new supply'. Methanex employs over 200 people, with about 95% of production exported to customers in the Asia Pacific region.

The company has agreed to sell substantially all of its New Zealand natural gas contractual entitlements commencing in the first quarter of 2027 and continuing through the end of the decade when such entitlements expire. Methanol manufacturing will cease at the end of February 2027, after 32 years of operation.

New Plymouth mayor Max Brough warned that the loss would be felt well beyond the plant itself, affecting engineering and electrical industries in the region. He attributed the closure to the Labour Government's decision to ban new offshore oil and gas exploration in 2018.