Bulk parcel or ISO tanks into Pakistan?

A formaldehyde or resin plant taking 1,500 t a month or more buys a bulk parcel into Engro Vopak tankage, shared with other receivers where the terminal allows, and draws it down by road tanker. A distributor or a plant below that takes 20 to 24 t ISO tanks on liner service to Karachi, which cost more per tonne but need no tank lease. Tell us your monthly volume and storage and we price the right one; a 5,000 t parcel offered to a 200 t a month buyer is a sign the seller has not asked.

Which origins can reach Karachi now?

Oman is the short haul: Salalah is about 800 nautical miles from Karachi and Sohar sits on the Gulf of Oman, so a parcel is three to four days out. Malaysian methanol from Labuan and Bintulu comes on the Southeast Asia to India and Pakistan chemical-tanker rotation, and Trinidad and US Gulf cargoes on the long-haul Atlantic rotation, usually as part of a larger parcel discharging along the Indian coast. The producer's name and load port go on the offer before anything else.

What specification does Pakistani industry buy?

IMPCA reference grade. Formaldehyde catalysts and resin recipes are sensitive to water, acidity and ethanol, so the certificate of analysis at load carries purity, water, acidity as acetic acid, chloride, permanganate time, ethanol, non-volatile matter and appearance. We do not offer off-spec, recovered or fuel-grade material to a resin buyer.

Is there a CFR Karachi methanol price?

Not a published one. Methanol is priced against the Argus, ICIS and Platts assessments for the Middle East, Southeast Asia and CFR India, with a differential for the parcel size and the freight to Port Qasim. We quote per lot for a named buyer against those references; a flat number with no reference and no named producer is not an offer.

Can CBIL also fix the ship?

Yes. Our chartering desk, LaycanDesk, prices IMO II/III chemical-tanker parcels from Salalah, Sohar, Labuan, Bintulu and the US Gulf to Port Qasim, so a CFR and a FOB figure can be shown side by side.

Indian Ocean · Pakistan

Methanol Suppliers CFR Karachi and Port Qasim, Pakistan

IMPCA-grade methanol parcels into the Engro Vopak chemical berth for Pakistan's formaldehyde, resin and solvent industry

Pakistan declared 204,572 t of HS 2905.11 methanol imports in 2025 (USD 70.0 million, USD 342 per tonne), up from 179,800 t in 2024 and 173,700 t in 2023, with 203,151 t of the 2025 total from one origin and Oman's share falling from 6,600 t in 2024 to nil. The cargo lands at Engro Vopak Terminal at Port Qasim, Pakistan's only integrated bulk liquid chemical and LPG terminal, which handles about 70 per cent of the country's bulk liquid chemical imports on a berth built for dangerous chemicals and vessels to 75,000 DWT, and whose lease was extended by 30 years in 2025. From the tanks it goes by road tanker to the formaldehyde and urea-formaldehyde resin plants in Karachi and Hub that glue the country's particleboard and MDF, to alkyd and coating-resin makers in Lahore, and to the Jodia Bazaar chemical distributors who sell it on in drums and ISO tanks to Punjab and Sialkot. At roughly 0.45 t of methanol per tonne of 37 per cent formalin, a single 100,000 t a year formalin and resin producer needs two to three thousand tonnes a month.

CBIL brokers methanol to the IMPCA reference specification (99.85% purity minimum on a dry basis, water 0.100% maximum, version 10, October 2024) in 5,000 to 15,000 t parcels on IMO II/III chemical tankers CFR Port Qasim, and in 20 to 24 t ISO tanks on liner service for distributors, loading Salalah (OQ, 1.095 million t a year nameplate, about 800 nautical miles from Karachi) and Sohar (Oman Methanol Company, 1.05 million t a year) in Oman, Labuan and Bintulu in Malaysia, Point Lisas in Trinidad, and the US Gulf. Methanol ships as UN 1230, class 3 with a 6.1 subsidiary risk, under the IBC Code, and every cargo carries the producer's certificate of analysis and an independent inspector's certificate at load (purity, water, acidity, chloride, permanganate time, ethanol, appearance) with the producing plant named on the certificate of origin. Pricing follows the published Argus, ICIS and Platts assessments for the Middle East, Southeast Asia and CFR India with a differential for parcel size and freight; we quote per lot for a named buyer. A resin producer or importer that states its monthly volume, whether it takes bulk into Engro Vopak tankage or ISO tanks, its delivery window and its LC-opening bank gets a firm offer; a requirement without them gets a question first.

Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices chemical parcel tanker chartering on LaycanDesk.

The market in figures

Declared imports, 2025: 204,572 t, USD 70.0 million, USD 342/t (2024: 179,800 t; 2023: 173,700 t)
Monthly run-rate: About 17,000 t; Oman supplied 6,600 t in 2024 and nil in 2025
Receiving terminal: Engro Vopak, Port Qasim: about 70% of Pakistan's bulk liquid chemical imports, dangerous-chemicals berth, vessels to 75,000 DWT
Loading points: Salalah and Sohar (Oman) · Labuan and Bintulu (Malaysia) · Point Lisas (Trinidad) · US Gulf
Specification and parcel: IMPCA v10 (99.85% min, water 0.100% max) · 5,000-15,000 t chemical-tanker parcels · 20-24 t ISO tanks
Main uses: Formaldehyde and UF/MF resins for particleboard and MDF · coating and alkyd resins · solvents · pharmaceutical

Official trade data; sources listed below. Landed values are the importing country's declared CIF, not CBIL prices.

Questions buyers ask

Bulk parcel or ISO tanks into Pakistan?: A formaldehyde or resin plant taking 1,500 t a month or more buys a bulk parcel into Engro Vopak tankage, shared with other receivers where the terminal allows, and draws it down by road tanker. A distributor or a plant below that takes 20 to 24 t ISO tanks on liner service to Karachi, which cost more per tonne but need no tank lease. Tell us your monthly volume and storage and we price the right one; a 5,000 t parcel offered to a 200 t a month buyer is a sign the seller has not asked.
Which origins can reach Karachi now?: Oman is the short haul: Salalah is about 800 nautical miles from Karachi and Sohar sits on the Gulf of Oman, so a parcel is three to four days out. Malaysian methanol from Labuan and Bintulu comes on the Southeast Asia to India and Pakistan chemical-tanker rotation, and Trinidad and US Gulf cargoes on the long-haul Atlantic rotation, usually as part of a larger parcel discharging along the Indian coast. The producer's name and load port go on the offer before anything else.
What specification does Pakistani industry buy?: IMPCA reference grade. Formaldehyde catalysts and resin recipes are sensitive to water, acidity and ethanol, so the certificate of analysis at load carries purity, water, acidity as acetic acid, chloride, permanganate time, ethanol, non-volatile matter and appearance. We do not offer off-spec, recovered or fuel-grade material to a resin buyer.
Is there a CFR Karachi methanol price?: Not a published one. Methanol is priced against the Argus, ICIS and Platts assessments for the Middle East, Southeast Asia and CFR India, with a differential for the parcel size and the freight to Port Qasim. We quote per lot for a named buyer against those references; a flat number with no reference and no named producer is not an offer.
Can CBIL also fix the ship?: Yes. Our chartering desk, LaycanDesk, prices IMO II/III chemical-tanker parcels from Salalah, Sohar, Labuan, Bintulu and the US Gulf to Port Qasim, so a CFR and a FOB figure can be shown side by side.

Sources

UN Comtrade, reporter 586 (Pakistan), HS 2905.11, imports, 2025: world 204,572 t, USD 70.0 million; Saudi Arabia 203,151 t, USD 69.1 million; Germany 524 t; China 361 t (public preview API, read 30 Sep 2026). 2024: 179,800 t, USD 60.3 million, USD 336/t, Oman 6,600 t; 2023: 173,700 t, USD 64.4 million, USD 371/t (desk pull, 29 Sep 2026).
Business Recorder, 'Port Qasim Authority renews Engro Vopak Terminal implementation agreement' (2026); Profit, 11 Apr 2025, 30-year lease extension; Vopak terminal page: about 70% of Pakistan's bulk liquid chemical imports, vessels to 75,000 DWT, berth designed for dangerous chemicals.
Super Chemicals (Pvt) Ltd, superchemicalspk.com: formalin and urea-formaldehyde resin capacity of 100,000 t/yr across two Karachi plants. Dynea Pakistan Ltd, dynea.com.pk: formalin, urea and melamine moulding compounds and wood resins. Named as published plant facts, not as CBIL counterparties.
IMPCA Methanol Reference Specifications, version 10, dated 25 October 2024 (impca.eu): purity 99.85% w/w minimum on a dry basis; water 0.100% w/w maximum.
OQ Base Industries, oqbi.om: Salalah Methanol 3,000 t/day, 1.095 million t/yr nameplate. Proman, Oman Methanol Company page: Sohar, 1.05 million t/yr, sales and marketing by Helm AG.
PETRONAS Chemicals Group: Labuan methanol complex 2.33 million t/yr; sales and purchase agreement to market the 1.7 million t/yr Sarawak Petchem plant at Bintulu.
Trinidad Guardian, 'Methanol output builds through Q1 as exports rise': Trinidad and Tobago exported 1.15 million t of methanol in Q1 2026. Methanex Form 6-K, 29 Jun 2026: the 860,000 t/yr Titan plant idled from July 2026; Atlas remains idled. Trinidad supply on this page means the operating Point Lisas producers.
IMO IBC Code and IMDG Code: methanol UN 1230, class 3, subsidiary risk 6.1, packing group II.
IndexBox, Pakistan methanol market report 2026 (secondary): Saudi Arabia about 93% of import value, Oman second. Consistent with the Comtrade figures above.