Cornerstone resumes operations at US melamine plant

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Cornerstone Chemical, the only melamine producer in the US, has resumed operations following a major turnaround at its 75,000 tonne/year plant at Waggaman, Louisiana, it said on Thursday.

Originally scheduled for late summer/early fall, Cornerstone pushed forward the turnaround in advance of an ammonia plant start up. Cornerstone will use some of that plant’s output for feedstock.

Incitec Pivot Ltd (IPL) is building an $850m ammonia plant Waggaman, Louisiana. The plant’s capacity is 800,000-tonnes/year, it is 97% finished, and it is on course to start beneficial production in Q3 of this year, managing director and CEO James Fazzino, disclosed during a results announcement.

Known as WALA, the plant sits on an existing complex run by Cornerstone Chemical. Cornerstone will receive a quarter of the unit’s output for melamine and acrylonitrile (ACN) production, while ammonia trader Trammo has signed an offtake agreement for 350,000 tonnes/year.

The remaining 250,000 tonnes/year will be used by explosives manufacturer Dyno Nobel Americas (DNA), part of wholly owned IPL subsidiary Dyno Nobel, as feedstock for ammonium nitrate (AN) and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN).