Supply and Demand Game: Flexible Trends in the Chinese Melamine Market

October 28th News

Currently, the Chinese melamine market is exhibiting a narrow trading range. As of October 28, the benchmark price for melamine stands at 5,450.00 CNY per ton, representing an 1.8% decrease compared to the beginning of this month (5,550.00 CNY per ton). While raw material costs and supply conditions are providing some support, weak downstream demand remains the primary factor holding back market growth.

Factory price quotes from selected manufacturing companies

Overall Situation: The market is characterized by a supply and demand standoff. On one hand, the price of urea, a raw material, increased at the beginning of this week. As of October 28, the benchmark price for urea was 1625.00 CNY/ton, up 0.23% from the beginning of the month (1621.25 CNY/ton), providing support for the cost of melamine. On the other hand, downstream factories have shown low purchasing enthusiasm, and demand remains weak, making it difficult for market prices to rise significantly. Market Dynamics

Company Updates: As shown in the table, different companies are adopting divergent pricing strategies. This reflects that, in the current market environment, businesses are flexibly adjusting prices based on their own inventory levels, order volumes, and regional conditions—so far, no unified trend of widespread price increases or decreases has emerged.

Supply Side: Attention needs to be paid to the operating conditions of various enterprises. Data shows that the industry's weekly operating rate is expected to increase slightly, which may boost market supply.

Demand Side: Downstream procurement conditions are key to determining whether prices can remain stable. If demand continues to weaken, the market will struggle to break out of its consolidation pattern.

Future Outlook: It is expected that in the short term, the melamine market in China will continue to maintain a stable and consolidating trend. The key to market trends still lies in the changes at both ends of supply and demand: