China&#xx;s market was initially buoyed by temporary support from December, which has now faded. Post holidays supply conditions in China improved. Several melamine plants in Shandong and Xinjiang restarted operations, lifting the industry operating rate from around xxx before the holidays to nearly xx–xxx by mid-January. This recovery eased earlier supply concerns and added more material to the market.
At the same time China&#xx;s melamine production capabilities are still expanding. By the end of xxxx, China&#xx;s melamine production capabilities increased around x.x million metric tons, with nearly xxx,xxx tons of newly added capacity in xxxx alone. With this rapid capacity increase, supply pressure in the market has noticeably increased and has served to maintain downward price pressure.
Feedstock urea prices remained relatively high during the period, supported by fertilizer exports. However, urea’s impact on melamine costs...
