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Methanex Reports Stronger EBITDA in the Second Quarter-Projects in New Zealand and Louisiana Driving Future Growth

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA—(Marketwire – July 25, 2012) – Methanex Corporation (TSX:MX)(NASDAQ:MEOH)(SANTIAGO:METHANEX) For the second quarter of 2012, Methanex reported Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $113 million and Adjusted net income(1) of $44 million ($0.47 per share on a diluted basis(1)). This compares with Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $93 million and Adjusted net income(1) of $39 million ($0.41 per share on a diluted basis(1)) for the first quarter of 2012.

Bruce Aitken, President and CEO of Methanex commented, “Overall methanol demand has remained good and the pricing environment has been relatively stable, despite some demand softness in certain derivatives. We reported higher EBITDA in the second quarter due primarily to higher sales of Methanex-produced methanol.”

Mr. Aitken added, “Industry demand growth is expected to significantly exceed new capacity additions over the next few years and we have a number of growth projects in place to capitalize on the positive industry conditions. In New Zealand, the recent restart of a second plant increases our cash generation capability and we are investigating further initiatives which could increase annual production capacity by up to 900,000 tonnes by the end of 2013. We also announced today that we have reached a final investment decision to proceed with the project to relocate an idle Chile facility to Geismar, Louisiana. The project is on track to add one million tonnes of annual production capacity by the end of 2014.”

Mr. Aitken concluded, “With over US$600 million of cash on hand, an undrawn credit facility, a robust balance sheet, and strong cash flow generation, we are well positioned to repay our $200 million bond coming due in August, invest in the Louisiana project and other strategic opportunities to grow the Company, and continue to deliver on our commitment to return excess cash to shareholders.”

A conference call is scheduled for July 26, 2012 at 12:00 noon ET (9:00 am PT) to review these second quarter results. To access the call, dial the Conferencing operator ten minutes prior to the start of the call at (416) 340-8018, or toll free at (866) 223-7781. A playback version of the conference call will be available for three weeks at (905) 694-9451, or toll free at (800) 408-3053. The passcode for the playback version is 2530127. There will be a simultaneous audio-only webcast of the conference call, which can be accessed from our website at www.methanex.com. The webcast will be available on our website for three weeks following the call.

Methanex is a Vancouver-based, publicly traded company and is the world’s largest supplier of methanol to major international markets. 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 INFORMATION WARNING

This Second Quarter 2012 press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to us and the chemical industry. Refer to Forward-Looking Information Warning in the attached Second Quarter 2012 Management’s Discussion and Analysis for more information.

(1) Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted net income and Adjusted diluted net income per common share are non-GAAP measures which do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP. These measures represent the amounts that are attributable to Methanex Corporation shareholders and are calculated by excluding amounts associated with the 40% non-controlling interest in the methanol facility in Egypt, the mark-to-market impact of items which impact the comparability of our earnings from one period to another, which currently include only the mark-to-market impact of share-based compensation as a result of changes in our share price, and Louisiana project relocation expenses. Refer to Additional Information – Supplemental Non-GAAP Measures of the attached Interim Report for the three months ended June 30, 2012 for reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures.

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For further information, contact:

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

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