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Where does China get its methanol? Import sources 2024

In 2024, China imported $3.9 billion of methanol (13.3 million tonnes), 29.8% of the world total. Its main sources were Oman (26%), the United Arab Emirates (24%) and Saudi Arabia (13%). China was the world’s largest importer of methanol.

Summary

Value
$3.9billion
Tonnes
13.3million tonnes
Share of world total
29.8%
World rank
1st
Routes from the main sources. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Sources

The 20 main sources in the latest year.

PartnerValue (USD millions)TonnesUSD per tonneShareMode
Oman996Tonnes: 3,397,742USD per tonne: $29325.8%Sea
United Arab Emirates910Tonnes: 3,088,428USD per tonne: $29523.6%Sea
Saudi Arabia513Tonnes: 1,759,632USD per tonne: $29213.3%Sea
Iran432Tonnes: 1,470,681USD per tonne: $29411.2%Sea
Russia224Tonnes: 781,515USD per tonne: $2865.8%Sea
Trinidad and Tobago205Tonnes: 771,763USD per tonne: $2655.3%Sea
New Zealand117Tonnes: 367,529USD per tonne: $3173%Sea
Venezuela113Tonnes: 384,198USD per tonne: $2952.9%Sea
Chile98.1Tonnes: 396,321USD per tonne: $2472.5%Sea
Malaysia90.8Tonnes: 344,015USD per tonne: $2642.4%Sea
Qatar84.3Tonnes: 285,251USD per tonne: $2962.2%Sea
Brunei29.2Tonnes: 94,549USD per tonne: $3080.76%Sea
Bahrain25.3Tonnes: 98,612USD per tonne: $2570.66%Sea
United States10Tonnes: 17,046USD per tonne: $5900.26%Sea
Germany3.4Tonnes: 866USD per tonne: $3,9700.09%Sea
South Korea2.2Tonnes: 669USD per tonne: $3,2740.06%Sea
South Africa0.34Tonnes: 230USD per tonne: $1,4930.01%Sea
Canada0.26Tonnes: 758USD per tonne: $3470.01%Sea
Spain0.15Tonnes: 32USD per tonne: $4,6640%Sea
Sweden0.13Tonnes: 75USD per tonne: $1,7860%Sea

Trend

Who it buys from

Oman has been its main source since 2024

Value in USD billions. The five largest sources in 2024.

  • Oman 1
  • United Arab Emirates 0.91
  • Saudi Arabia 0.51
  • Iran 0.43
  • Russia 0.22

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Partner19952024
Oman01
United Arab Emirates00.91
Saudi Arabia0.010.51
Iran00.43
Russia< 0.010.22

Sources and methodology

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Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), which reconciles what exporters and importers report: countries that stopped reporting (Russia since 2022) appear with their partners’ data. FOB values in current US dollars; tonnes when BACI reports them. The price per tonne is the value of the rows with a weight divided by that weight. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.

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