$3.3bn Mexican low-carbon chemical facility breaks ground

The first stone has been laid at Mexico’s $3.3bn green and blue hydrogen-based methanol project, launching the pre-construction phase.

Due online between late 2029 and 2030, Transition Industries’ Pacifico Mexinol project aims to produce over 2.1 million tonnes of clean methanol per year for export.

It will use around 160 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to fuel methane reforming paired with carbon capture to generate up to 1.8 million tonnes-per-year (tpa) of blue methanol.

Simultaneously, a 210MW electrolyser plant – currently being engineered – will produce around 4,000kg per hour of green hydrogen as a feedstock for the plant’s 350,000tpa of green methanol.

US-based Transition Industries said field work and site preparation will start next month, with full construction due to begin in late 2026.

Around 50% of its production capacity has already been earmarked for offtake by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical in a inked in late 2025.

Rommel Gallo, CEO of Transition Industries, said the project represents a strategic platform which could strengthen Mexico’s position in the global chemical industry.

“Equally important, it integrates global resources, infrastructure, and capital to deliver a world-scale chemical facility,” he added.

In addition to its traditional chemical industry use, clean methanol is being pursued as a future fuel for the shipping sector.

However, like many green alternatives, the chemical continues to face higher production costs and tougher offtake negotiations than unabated methanol.