Beijing, Sept. 25 -- China's petrochemical industry may face a surplus of methanol by 2009, as the number of producers more than triples and their production capacity surges 12-fold from 2005, the Securities Times reported.

    China will have 88 methanol producers with the capacity to churn out 48.5 million tons of the material a year by 2009, compared with 28 companies producing 4 million tons in 2005, the paper said, citing Li Hongjun, deputy director of the China Nitrogen Fertilizer Industry Association.