Skip to main content

Nitrogen+Syngas 395 May-Jun 2025

Mabanaft and HIF Global to accelerate methanol adoption in the shipping industry


GERMANY

Mabanaft and HIF Global to accelerate methanol adoption in the shipping industry

Energy company Mabanaft and HIF Global have signed a heads of agreement for the offtake of e-methanol from, HIF’s planned e-Fuels facilities, reinforcing their commitment to advancing carbon-reducing fuels for the shipping industry. The initial offtake would be of up to 100,000 t/a of e-methanol produced from renewable electricity and captured CO2 per year. As HIF Global moves forward with the development of its e-Fuels facilities, Mabanaft says that it will further explore demand for different methanol applications jointly with its customers.

Volker Ebeling, Senior Vice President New Energy, Supply & Infrastructure at Mabanaft said: “We strongly believe in the potential of e-methanol as a key enabler of the energy transition, and we are proud to deepen our partnership with HIF Global. This agreement is a further step forward in providing our shipping customers with a viable, alternative fuel. In parallel we are now in the process of making methanol storage available at our Hamburg tank terminal and possibly further global locations. Our combined efforts help bridging the gap towards a broader adoption of methanol in the maritime sector.”

Diego Fettweis, Chief Commercial Officer of HIF Global, stated, “Today we take another step in leading the e-Fuels industry, joining forces to break into a key market: shipping. Drop-in fuels can make a relevant difference ensuring a secure energy supply while leveraging existing infrastructure.”

HIF has a pilot green methanol facility at its HIF Haru Oni e-Fuels facility in southern Chile and is developing commercial-scale e-Fuels facilities in the United States, Uruguay, Australia, and Chile.

Latest in Industrial

Start-up for Adani smelter

Adani Group subsidiary Kutch Copper has commenced operations at its new Mundra copper refinery and smelter, the company announced on 28 March. The company previously indicated an expected start-up by the end of Q1. The new smelter will help boost domestic supplies of copper, demand for which is robust from the construction, transport and power sectors in particular and likely to double by 2030, with the shift towards clean energy and electric vehicles. This first phase of the project will have around 500,000 t/a copper capacity, with a similar capacity planned to be added in the second phase by 2029.

Production cuts at Chinese smelters

It is reported that Tongling Nonferrous is planning production cuts this year given current record low treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs). CRU estimates that the company’s potential cutbacks will total 67,000 tonnes of copper for the year. However, the start-up of the Jinguan II and Chifeng Jinjian II projects could offset the reduction in concentrate demand at operational smelters. Tongling Nonferrous owns five operational smelters/refineries with a total of 1.28 million t/a blister capacity and 1.73 million t/a refined capacity, respectively. It is understood that the Chifeng Jintong 220,000 t/a smelter has cut operating rates by 10% since early March due to concentrate tightness.