CAS 67-56-1 · IECSC · People's Republic of China

Methanol under IECSC

CH3OH · 甲醇

Status: Listed. Methanol is on the IECSC public portion as a foundational industrial chemical and is one of China's largest-volume industrial outputs (~75 Mt/yr production capacity, world's largest). New-substance notification under MEE Decree No. 7 (2010) is NOT required. Methanol is on China's Catalog of Hazardous Chemicals (2015 edition) and on the Easily-Made Drugs Precursor Chemicals Catalog (《易制毒化学品管理条例》 Category 3); domestic distribution requires the corresponding precursor permit chain.

Methanol is comfortably IECSC-listed but the Easily-Made Drugs Precursor Catalog Category 3 listing adds the Public Security Bureau permit chain on top of the standard hazardous-chemicals permit chain. China is the world's largest producer (~75 Mt/yr) so the export side is structural; the documentation gap is usually on the precursor permit, not the SDS. The 0% VAT export rebate is a deliberate Beijing carbon-policy signal against high-CO2 coal-route methanol exports, making Chinese methanol export economics structurally tighter vs Middle East gas-route supply over 2024-2030.

Listing and threshold

Substance Methanol (CAS 67-56-1), CH3OH
Regime China Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances (IECSC), administered by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE)
Jurisdiction People's Republic of China
Status Listed
Tonnage threshold No new-substance threshold applies. General hazardous-chemical handling permits and the precursor-chemicals registration apply above MIIT / MEE / Public Security Bureau thresholds.

Classifications under this regime

  • Listed in China's Catalog of Hazardous Chemicals (《危险化学品目录》, 2015 version)
  • Hazard category: Class 3 + 6.1 flammable and toxic liquid (UN 1230 in domestic GB labelling)
  • GB 30000.5-2013 GHS: Acute Tox. 3 (oral, dermal, inhalation), Flammable Liquid 2, STOT SE 1 (eyes)
  • NOT on the China State Council's Highly Toxic Chemicals Catalog (《剧毒化学品名录》)
  • Listed on the Easily-Made Drugs Precursor Chemicals Catalog (《易制毒化学品管理条例》) Category 3: methamphetamine precursor controls

Restrictions and conditions of use

  • Hazardous Chemicals Operation Permit (危险化学品经营许可证) required for distributors and end-users
  • Hazardous Chemicals Storage Approval required for storage above 1 t in single facility
  • Easily-Made Drugs Precursor Permit (易制毒化学品购销备案证明) required for purchase and sale of bulk methanol; Public Security Bureau handles registration
  • Concentrations above industrial threshold trigger additional Public Security Bureau monitoring on transactions
  • No specific export-restriction or quota system applies; 0% VAT export rebate per current bulletin (down from 9% in earlier years, structural Chinese carbon-policy signal)

Importer obligations

For Chinese-origin methanol exported abroad, no IECSC obligation falls on the foreign importer. For inbound methanol imports into China (rare; China is a net exporter and the world's largest producer), the Chinese importer must verify IECSC listing (it is listed) and hold the Hazardous Chemicals Import Filing at the destination customs port. Sourzi-side practice: IECSC compliance is verified via GACC databases and built into the export documentation pack; the precursor-permit chain on the Chinese side and the 0% VAT rebate are the documentation hot-spots.

Required documents

  • GACC export declaration with HS code 290511
  • GHS-compliant SDS in Simplified Chinese per GB/T 17519-2013 (effective 31 January 2014, references UN GHS 4th revised edition; verify against the current version of GB/T 17519 at https://www.codeofchina.com/standard/GBT17519-2013.html)
  • Manufacturer's Hazardous Chemicals Operation Permit copy
  • Easily-Made Drugs Precursor Permit copy from manufacturer (used by export-side broker for verification)
  • Coal-to-methanol carbon-intensity declaration (where buyer requires for downstream CARB / EU-CBAM-Phase-2 compliance)

Common compliance traps

The pitfalls that have bitten importers on this lane in the past. None of these is theoretical.

  • Easily-Made Drugs Precursor Catalog Category 3 listing means the Public Security Bureau is in the chain: manufacturer, distributor, and export-broker handovers all need permit verification
  • 0% VAT export rebate (down from 9% historically) reflects China's carbon-policy signalling against high-CO2 coal-route methanol; export economics are structurally tighter than Middle East gas-route supply
  • GACC sometimes blocks shipments if SDS is missing the Chinese-only fields (mainland-China emergency contact, GHS Chinese pictograms)
  • MTO (methanol-to-olefins) Chinese downstream consumption is structural; export demand competes with domestic MTO offtake which keeps Chinese methanol prices volatile
  • Coal-route vs natural-gas-route methanol have different carbon-intensity scores; buyers requesting LCFS-grade product need Middle East not Chinese supply

Where to read next

For substance-level identifiers (formula, molecular weight, SMILES, InChIKey), GHS hazard profile, IMDG transport class, and full sourcing reference for methanol, see the CAS 67-56-1 sourcing reference.

For grade-by-grade buying notes, freight maths, supplier-tier pricing, and a worked landed-cost example, the methanol cornerstone hub covers the full sourcing chain.

For the structure and history of IECSC, see the IECSC glossary entry.

Need cross-jurisdiction compliance support on this substance? Run it through the REACH / TSCA / IECSC / AICIS / K-REACH checker, or send us the substance and the destination and we will quote FOB China and CIF / DDP landed including the regulatory work on the destination side.

Read next

Cross-jurisdiction profile and sourcing references

Referenced in

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