Methanex downgraded at Scotiabank citing three reasons

As previously reported, Scotiabank analyst Ben Isaacson downgraded Methanex (MEOH) to Sector Perform from Outperform with a price target of $53, down from $66. The firm’s long-term view of earnings power has not changed, but it is stepping to the sidelines for three reasons – the company taking the Geismar 3 methanol plant in Louisiana offline until May due to another issue with the autothermal reformer; gas being redirected back to methanol plants as the winter eases in Iran; and the fact that “there is no question that macro headwinds are accelerating.”