VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA—(Marketwire – Oct. 22, 2008) – Methanex Corporation (TSX:MX)(NASDAQ:MEOH)(SANTIAGO:Methanex) – For the third quarter of 2008, Methanex reported Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $140.4 million and net income of $70.9 million ($0.75 per share on a diluted basis). This compares with Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $78.9 million and net income of $38.9 million ($0.41 per share on a diluted basis) for the second quarter of 2008.

Bruce Aitken, President and CEO of Methanex commented, “Methanol prices remained strong in the third quarter and we achieved an average realized price of $413 per tonne. The stable price environment led to a significant improvement to our purchased methanol margins which contributed to significantly higher earnings.”

“Entering the fourth quarter, methanol prices have moderated. However, with the recent decline in prices, we have seen some tightening on the supply side of the industry with high cost capacity in China either shutting in or switching to fertilizer production. In addition, a major unplanned outage at a competitor plant has impacted global industry supply.”

“We have seen softness in demand for methanol for some derivatives and the global financial crisis poses uncertainty for our business. However, to date overall global methanol demand has been relatively stable. Demand into new energy applications in China has been healthy, and with the onset of winter, we expect demand into these uses to continue to be steady.”

“We completed the restart of our larger plant in New Zealand at the end of the third quarter, which added 450,000 tonnes of annualized production to our asset base. Longer term, with our Egypt Project, gas exploration and development activities in southern Chile, and upside potential in New Zealand, we are well positioned to significantly increase our production and cash generation capability in the future.”

Mr. Aitken concluded, “With US$358 million of cash on hand at the end of the quarter, a strong balance sheet and a US$250 million undrawn credit facility, we believe we are well positioned to meet our financial commitments related to the Egypt methanol project, invest to accelerate natural gas development in southern Chile, pursue other strategic initiatives, and continue to deliver on our commitment to return excess cash to shareholders.”

A conference call is scheduled for Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 10:30 am EST (7:30 am PST) to review these third quarter results. To access the call, dial the Telus Conferencing operator ten minutes prior to the start of the call at (416) 883-0139, or toll free at (888) 458-1598. The passcode for the call is 45654. A playback version of the conference call will be available for fourteen days at (877) 653-0545. The reservation number for the playback version is 518974. There will be a simultaneous audio-only webcast of the conference call, which can be accessed from our website at www.methanex.com. In addition, an audio recording of the conference call can be downloaded from our website for three weeks after the call.

Methanex is a Vancouver based, publicly traded company engaged in the worldwide production, distribution and marketing of methanol. Methanex shares are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada under the trading symbol “MX”, on the NASDAQ Global Market in the United States under the trading symbol “MEOH”, and on the foreign securities market of the Santiago Stock Exchange in Chile under the trading symbol “Methanex”. Methanex can be visited online at www.methanex.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Information contained in this press release and the attached Third Quarter 2008 Management’s Discussion and Analysis contains forward-looking statements. Certain material factors or assumptions were applied in drawing the conclusions or making the forecasts or projections that are included in these forward-looking statements. Methanex believes that it has a reasonable basis for making such forward-looking statements. However, forward-looking statements, by their nature, involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties include those attendant with producing and marketing methanol and successfully carrying out major capital expenditure projects in various jurisdictions, the ability to successfully carry out corporate initiatives and strategies, conditions in the methanol and other industries including the supply and demand balance for methanol, the success of natural gas exploration and development activities in southern Chile and New Zealand and our ability to obtain any additional gas in that region on commercially acceptable terms, actions of competitors and suppliers, actions of governments and governmental authorities, our ability to access credit on commercially reasonable terms, changes in laws or regulations in foreign jurisdictions, world-wide economic conditions and other risks described in our 2007 Management’s Discussion & Analysis and the attached Third Quarter 2008 Management’s Discussion and Analysis. Undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. They are not a substitute for the exercise of one’s own due diligence and judgment. The outcomes anticipated in forward-looking statements may not occur and we do not undertake to update forward-looking statements. These materials also contain certain non-GAAP financial measures. Non-GAAP financial measures do not have any standardized meaning and therefore are unlikely to be comparable to similar measures used by other companies. For more information regarding these non-GAAP measures, please see our 2007 Management’s Discussion & Analysis and the attached Third Quarter 2008 Management’s Discussion and Analysis.

(1)

Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure that does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by Canadian generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and therefore is unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Refer to Supplemental Non-GAAP Measures in the attached Third Quarter 2008 Management’s Discussion and Analysis for a description of each Supplemental Non-GAAP Measure and a reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP measure.

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For further information, contact:

Jason Chesko
Director, Investor Relations
Methanex Corporation
604-661-2600

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