Global trade in methanol has been relatively steady around 40 million tons per year from 2023-2025. Volume in 2026 is expected to be lower because of the current conflict in the Middle East, the world’s largest methanol exporting region.

Global methanol trade surged in 2023 mainly on imports into Asia-Pacific, and also gains into Western Europe and Eastern Europe.

Over the 2021-2025 period, prominent changes in regional exports of methanol included a 13% increase in shipments from the Middle East, to 17.4 million tons in 2025, and nearly a doubling in exports from North America, from 2.2 million tons to 4.0 million tons. Exports from Iran are estimated at around 11 million tons of the Middle East total. According to Iran International, Iran has as of April 16th, halted exports of methanol and all other petrochemicals to preserve supplies for domestic use.

Asia-Pacific imported 22.7 million tons of methanol in 2025, three-quarters of which was from the Middle East, another 15% from Latin America and the remainder from North America and Eastern Europe.

Western Europe’s imports were relatively stable around 5 million tons per year over 2021-2025, about three-quarters of which was sourced from North America and Latin America, and the remainder from Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

From International Trader Publications’ Methanol World Trade Analysis, a continuously updated analysis of global trade developed from the latest statistics from all available countries.