Bruce Aitken, the CEO of Methanex Corp. (TSX:MX), has announced his retirement. John Floren, the company's senior vice-president of global marketing and logistics, will take over from him at the start of 2013.
Aitken, who has been with Methanex for more than two decades, plans to remain on the company's board of directors after his retirement.
"It has been a true honour leading Methanex for the past eight years," Aitken said. "I will miss the employees and day-to-day running of the company, which has been an important part of my life for so long. John Floren has great leadership abilities and management expertise and I believe he will be an exceptional CEO."
Floren will be stepping up at a time when the company – the largest methanol producer in the world – is involved in an ambitious $550 million plant relocation.
The company is dismantling one of its methanol plants in Chile and plans to rebuild it in Louisiana, where a shale gas boom is fuelling significant new business opportunities for the Vancouver-headquartered company.
"With so many excellent opportunities for growth, I believe it is critical to move quickly to capitalize on those opportunities as we remain focused on strengthening our leadership position in the methanol industry," Floren said.
"I look forward to enhancing a culture of high performance while staying focused to our values of integrity, trust, respect and professionalism."
Floren has been with Methanex since 2000 and has worked in the North American chemical industry for 27 years.
