March closed out the first quarter of 2026 with Trinidad and Tobago’s strongest monthly methanol production of the period, completing three consecutive months of growth. Total output reached 1.13 million metric tonnes. 

Production was 2.4% below the 1.16 million MT produced a year earlier. The plant-level figures, however, show that four facilities increased production, offsetting much of the decline at M5000 and TTMC II. 

Exports, however, moved in the other direction. MEEI recorded 1.15 million MT of methanol exports during the quarter, an 8% increase from the corresponding period in 2025. 

M5000 remained the country’s largest producer, despite turning out less methanol than it did a year earlier. Caribbean Gas Chemical Limited ranked second and recorded a slight increase. 

Titan posted the strongest gain. Production rose 57.5% to 214,541 MT, while Methanol IV increased output by 27.5%. Caribbean Methanol Company also improved, producing 16.2% more than it did in the first quarter of 2025. 

Methanex’s own results put Titan’s production at approximately 215,000 MT, closely matching the ministry’s figure. The company reported that the plant operated at its listed quarterly capacity. The comparison with 2025 also reflects a lower starting point, as an unplanned outage affected Titan during the first quarter of last year. 

Atlas recorded no production in either period. Methanex idled the plant in mid-September 2024 when its 20-year natural gas supply agreement expired. TTMC I is no longer included in the Ministry’s table, having been idle since 2016. 

Overseas sales remain central to the local methanol industry. OPIS, a Dow Jones company, reported in May that Trinidad and Tobago was the largest methanol exporter in the Caribbean and South America. West Europe, mainland China and the United States were among the country’s leading markets. 

By the second quarter, Titan’s production had fallen to 121,000 MT following further unplanned outages. Methanex announced on June 29, 2026, that it would indefinitely idle the plant after the company and NGC failed to agree on a new natural gas contract. 

Although the existing contract was due to expire in September, Titan ceased operations on July 15, 2026. Methanex has since begun placing the 860,000-tonne-per-year facility in a preserved state. 

With Atlas already idle, Titan’s closure brought Methanex’s methanol production in Trinidad and Tobago to an end for now. The company has not announced a complete withdrawal from the country. It continues to preserve both facilities, allowing for a possible restart if commercial conditions improve. 

Methanex said tight gas supply and demand balances had made its Trinidad operations commercially unviable. NGC said the volume of gas on offer was not the sticking point.

The state company maintained that it offered the same contracted volume, with the option of considering an increase, but said the principal issue was pricing. 

No timeline has been announced for restarting Titan or Atlas. Methanex said it would continue monitoring developments in Trinidad and Tobago and reassess its position over the coming years. 

Despite this change at Methanex, the first-quarter figures showed that gains across several plants kept national methanol production close to its year-earlier level, while exports increased. With Titan now offline, attention will shift to the remaining producers and whether the stronger production pace recorded in March can be carried forward.