US melamine market unsure of plant outage impacts

David Love

04-May-2016

HOUSTON (ICIS)–The US melamine market is waiting to see what the implications will be as a result of Cornerstone Chemical’s production disruption, market sources said on Wednesday.

Cornerstone on 3 May announced that its 75,000 tonne/year melamine plant at Waggaman, Louisiana, had to be taken down because of production issues. Nothing was revealed about the reason for the shutdown or how long the plant would be down.

One large buyer said that at this time it is not clear what will happen to supply and demand in this quarter.

Another market participant said that no one will care about the supply disruption, since Q2 contracts have already been fixed as long as the producer can supply them during the outage.

Cornerstone had been preparing for a major turnaround in late summer/early fall by cutting back on exports since late last year. The producer’s exports from December 2015 through February 2016 dropped sharply by 45% to 5,220 tonnes, compared to the same period a year earlier.

Otherwise the market is quiet, a buyer said. People are on standby waiting to see what the market brings before Q3 discussions. Discussions will likely begin in earnest around mid-June, although some discussions do not take place until after the next quarter begins.

Cornerstone Chemical is the only melamine producer in the US.

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