Yesterday the Vancouver-headquartered corporation said it had signed an agreement with Terra Industries to acquire all of Terra's methanol customer contracts relating to its 700,000 tonne per year methanol facility located in Beaumont, Texas.

In addition, Methanex will acquire certain production rights to the facility and exclusive rights to all methanol produced from the plant until the end of 2008. Methanex is to pay Terra $US25 million for this transaction, which will be completed on December 31.

"This transaction demonstrates our continued leadership in the methanol industry. Over the next twelve months we expect to add two important increments of low-cost capacity in Trinidad and Chile, and we need maximum flexibility as we bring this new capacity to market," said Methanex president Bruce Aitken.

"This new arrangement with Terra, and the transaction with Lyondell announced in December 2002, will provide our global supply chain with valuable flexibility and an even broader customer base," added Methanex senior vice-president (global marketing and logistics) Gerry Duffy.

Methanex has been rapidly repositioning itself as the world's largest trader of methanol, particularly with regard to the growing Asia-Pacific region, since early this year.

Last February there was the devastating Maui independent expert report, which revealed Methanex had essentially used all its Maui gas entitlements, and then in September it decided not to proceed with its revised 1.3 million tonne production facility at the Burrup Peninsula, Western Australia.