LaycanDeskMethanol, glycols and bulk liquid chemical parcels
IMO type 2 and 3 parcels of 1,000 to 20,000 tonnes on coated and stainless chemical tankers from Salalah, Sohar, Labuan, Brunei, Trinidad and the US Gulf into South and Southeast Asia. Freight for methanol, monoethylene and diethylene glycol and other IBC Code chapter 17 liquids as parcel-tanker cargo: 3,000 to 10,000 tonne lots on coated and stainless chemical tankers from Labuan and Sungai Liang into Viet Nam, Thailand and the Philippines, 10,000 to 20,000 tonne lots from Salalah and Sohar into Pakistan, Malaysia and Thailand, and long-haul completion parcels from Point Lisas and the US Gulf, with ship type, tank coating, prior cargoes and wall-wash settled before a ship is named.
Methanol is an IBC Code chapter 17 product carried on a ship type 3 chemical tanker, and it is the benchmark parcel of the coated fleet: it goes in epoxy, phenolic or zinc-coated tanks as readily as in stainless, but it is unforgiving on cleanliness because the buyer's IMPCA specification is tested by wall-wash for chlorides, hydrocarbons and colour before loading. Glycols are chapter 17 products too and travel in the same ships, with the extra care that monoethylene glycol for polyester fibre is a fibre-grade cargo tested for UV transmittance, so owners are asked for the last three cargoes and the coating type before either product is nominated. Parcel tankers sell tank space, not the whole ship: a 20,000 to 40,000 dwt stainless or coated ship on a Southeast Asia rotation may carry six to twelve grades, and methanol lots of 3,000 to 10,000 tonnes ride beside solvents, vegetable oil and base oil. The trade's supply map moved in 2026. Thailand had drawn about half its methanol from Saudi and Bahraini plants; the replacement barrels come short-haul from Labuan (Petronas Chemicals, 2.33 million tonnes a year) and Sungai Liang in Brunei (2,500 tonnes a day) to the Gulf of Thailand in three to four days, and from Salalah (3,000 tonnes a day) and Sohar (1.05 million tonnes a year) on the Omani open coast in twelve to fourteen days. Pakistan's 205,000 tonnes in 2025 landed almost entirely from one Gulf origin; Salalah is about 800 nautical miles and three days from Port Qasim, where Engro Vopak handles about 70 per cent of bulk liquid chemical imports and takes ships up to 75,000 dwt.
Send us the product and grade, quantity with tolerance, load terminal and berth, discharge terminal with its draft and shore-line limits, any heating or nitrogen requirement, laycan, commission and the charterer's name; for methanol we also want to know whether the receiver takes CFR into tank or buys ex-tank, because that decides who fixes. Parcels of 1,000 to 10,000 tonnes go to operators of coated and stainless tankers of 3,000 to 20,000 dwt trading the Straits and the Gulf of Thailand; 10,000 to 20,000 tonne lots go to parcel-tanker operators and coated MR owners opening at Salalah, Sohar, Labuan or Map Ta Phut. Trinidad and US Gulf methanol reaches Asia only when the arbitrage is open, and then in the producers' own 14,000 to 50,000 dwt methanol tankers, so those origins are quoted as completion space, not as a shuttle. Every counterparty is screened before an operator sees the stem, and a ship goes against it only after her IMO number, Q88 and last cargoes have cleared. Discharge in Viet Nam is at Go Dau and Ong Keo on the Dong Nai, at Cai Mep and Phu My and at Vung Ang; in Thailand at Map Ta Phut and Sriracha; in Indonesia at Merak and Gresik; in the Philippines at Batangas; in Pakistan at Port Qasim.
How it ships
- IBC Code chapter 17 products; methanol on a ship type 3 tanker
- Coated (epoxy, phenolic, zinc) or stainless tanks
- Wall-wash for chlorides, hydrocarbons and colour before loading
- Last three cargoes and coating type declared
- Parcels of 1,000–10,000 t on rotations; 10,000–20,000 t lots from Oman
- Nitrogen blanket and heating only where the grade needs it
Load areas
- Oman (Salalah, Sohar)
- Malaysia (Labuan) and Brunei (Sungai Liang)
- Trinidad (Point Lisas), when the arbitrage is open
- US Gulf (Geismar, Beaumont), completion space
Discharge areas
- Pakistan (Port Qasim, Engro Vopak)
- Viet Nam (Go Dau, Cai Mep, Phu My, Vung Ang)
- Thailand (Map Ta Phut, Sriracha)
- Indonesia (Merak, Gresik) and Philippines (Batangas)
- Malaysia (Pasir Gudang, Port Klang)
Ships that carry it
The cargo itself, on Commbril
Questions charterers and owners ask
Does methanol need a stainless steel tanker?
No. Methanol is a ship type 3 product under the IBC Code and is carried in coated tanks, epoxy, phenolic or zinc, as well as stainless. What decides the ship is cleanliness: the IMPCA specification is checked by wall-wash before loading, and a tank that last carried a dark or chlorinated cargo fails it. We ask owners for the coating and the last three cargoes before offering a ship.
What parcel sizes move on the Asian methanol lanes?
Short-haul lots from Labuan and Brunei into Viet Nam, Thailand and the Philippines run 3,000 to 10,000 tonnes on coated and stainless chemical tankers; Omani cargoes into Malaysia, Thailand and Pakistan run 10,000 to 20,000 tonnes; India and China take 20,000 to 40,000 tonnes. Pakistan's 2025 imports of about 205,000 tonnes point to one or two chemical-tanker parcels a month into Engro Vopak, which takes ships up to 75,000 dwt. Parcel sizes are trade practice; the terminal's berth and tank decide the actual lot.
Who fixes the ship on a methanol cargo?
The producer or its marketer when it sells CFR: Salalah methanol is placed by the offtaker on chartered carriers, and Methanol Holdings Trinidad and Proman run their own 14,000 to 50,000 dwt methanol tankers. A trader buying FOB Labuan or Sohar fixes its own parcel, and that is where a parcel enquiry to us starts. Tell us the basis and the receiving terminal and we go to the operators with space on that rotation.
What do you need from an operator with parcel space?
Ship name and IMO number, ship type and tank coating or stainless grade, open tanks and their capacity, last three cargoes per tank, heating and nitrogen capability, and the rotation with dates. Coated and stainless ships opening at Salalah, Sohar, Labuan, Map Ta Phut or Singapore are the positions these parcels most often need.