Will the cost be bearable? At the moment grey methanol trades for about $500 a tonne. And the energy value is little more than half that of fuel oil at $300 a tonne although combustion efficiency might be slightly better. This means that fuel costs would almost triple just by using fossil fuel derived methanol (and twice as much fuel will need to be carried for the same journey, reducing container capacity).
The average container cost about $3,000 to ship last quarter, according to Maersk’s quarterly report. Current fuel costs might have been around $400, which would rise to over $1,000 if grey methanol were used, adding about 20% to the overall shipping cost.
Couple more articles.
