Dampened Demand for Petrochemicals in Asia Prompts Decline in Methanol Sales for Current Fiscal Year

Sojitz, a renowned trading house in Japan, recently forecasted a significant slump in sales of Methanol for the current fiscal year as an outcome of dampened demand for Asian petrochemicals, affected by coronavirus Pandemic. The company recorded a profit of around $568 Million in FY20, which is down by 13.6 per cent from that earned in the previous year. This steep decline in profit has resulted from plummeting prices of Methanol at the back of unprecedented dive in oil prices. According to the company, the ongoing downturn in demand for Asia’s petrochemicals is anticipated to push Methanol sales to around 1.7 million tonnes in fiscal 2021 in comparison to the sales of 1.8 million tonnes achieved in the last fiscal year. Furthermore, the company witnessed impressive sales of around 2.25 million tonnes in 2017-2018 after it expanded its footprints in the global market by acquiring Solvadis Holdings, an exclusive trading subsidiary in Germany.