In 2023, China’s melamine export volume reached 534,000 tons. Melamine is an organic chemical product primarily made from urea, with a wide range of applications, mainly in coatings and adhesives as the main downstream markets. Domestic apparent demand for melamine in China has been growing slowly but steadily. In recent years, the growth rate of China’s melamine industry capacity has slowed compared to earlier periods but remains relatively stable, with a total capacity of around 1.9 million tons per year.
Since 2010, China’s melamine industry capacity has been in a transition period from old to new, characterized by the elimination of high energy-consuming, heavily polluting, and small-scale outdated capacities, and the construction of large-scale facilities with low energy consumption, environmentally friendly practices, and high product quality. In 2021, melamine production capacity in China was concentrated in regions such as Xinjiang, Shandong, and Henan, where urea enterprises are relatively concentrated, with Xinjiang, Shandong, and Henan accounting for 25.46%, 19.91%, and 14.58% of melamine production capacity, respectively.
In terms of production volume, China’s melamine production was around 1.3 million tons in 2019, a 0.99% increase from 2018. The apparent demand for melamine in China showed a slow growth trend from 2016 to 2020, with more significant growth from 2017 to 2020, driven by the booming development of industries such as panel boards and coatings, as well as strict environmental regulations on formaldehyde emissions in the panel board industry leading to an upgrade in adhesives, thereby increasing domestic demand for melamine. As of 2021, China’s apparent demand for melamine was 995,300 tons, a 3.0% decrease compared to the previous year.
By 2022, China’s melamine exports reached 534,000 tons, a 5.64% increase compared to the previous year, with an export value of $750 million, an 11.82% decrease year-on-year. In 2022, the top ten countries and regions for China’s melamine exports were India, Turkey, Germany, Thailand, Brazil, Vietnam, Russia, South Korea, Malaysia, and Indonesia, with each receiving over 20,000 tons, totaling 338,700 tons and accounting for 63.43% of China’s total exports. Between 2014 and 2021, China’s melamine export quantity and value fluctuated.
From 2015 to 2018, both the export quantity and value increased gradually, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a downward trend in China’s melamine exports from 2018 to 2020, which only began to recover in 2021. In 2020, China’s melamine exports were 304,300 tons, increasing to 505,500 tons in 2021, a 66.12% year-on-year growth. China’s melamine imports from 2014 to 2021 were not significant, with no particularly noticeable changes.
