Methanex annouces plans to close Kitimat plant
Methanex President and CEO Bruce Aitken announced that Methanex plans to close its Kitimat facilities in early January 2006. During an employee briefing in Kitimat, Mr. Aitken informed employees that it was no longer economically viable to continue to operate the Methanol plant. The associated ammonia plant will also close as a result.
"While Kitimat is an ideal location to supply our customers in North America and Asia, it is exposed to high cost North American natural gas, which is the main feedstock for this 500,000 tonne per year methanol plant," said Aitken. "It just doesn't make long term economic sense to manufacture methanol in North America with high cost energy."
There are 127 Methanex employees at the Kitimat site. Most employees will be retained until the end of March 2006 to complete shutdown procedures. While some employees may obtain positions elsewhere in the company, all employees who lose their jobs as a result of this closure will receive severance and career transition packages. Methanex is in an advanced stage of negotiations with a third party regarding the Kitimat site, and in particular, the utilization of the terminalling facilities at that site. This transaction could, over time, offset a portion of the shutdown costs.
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