Central Florida: Weather in the Mid-Atlantic was improving rapidly last week, and fertilizer was beginning to move out of dealer warehouses to fields in Maryland and southern Pennsylvania.
A trader said the biggest problem with the rush was finding enough trucks to make deliveries to customers. It was a scramble.
In the Southeast, activity was strong in some areas. Fieldwork was still stalled in much of the Northeast, however.
There were no new spot sales of prompt railcars out of Central Florida last week, but that should begin to change during the next few weeks.
Sulfur suppliers and phosphate producers were in the process of negotiating second-quarter molten sulfur prices for delivery to Tampa, but had not yet reached an agreement as of late last week. A source said the parties were not that far apart, however. The most likely outcome is a rollover in the price from the first quarter, several sources said.
Central Florida DAP remained unchanged last week at $465-$520/st FOB, based on posted and asking prices. Mosaic was listed at $465/st FOB for rail and $480/st FOB for trucks, while CF was posted at $520/st FOB. PCS Sales was selling at market prices out of Aurora and White Springs.
MAP continued to bring a $20/st premium over DAP.
U.S. Gulf: The first NOLA barges of the season broke through ice at Lake Pepin in Minnesota last week, much later than the normal opening period of March 20.
Previously, with the exception of flooding conditions, the latest the river was open for business was April 4. This year, the date was April 8. Last year, by contrast, the first tow of the season to arrive at the Twin Cities was March 17.
The season has gotten off to a late start and that has cost fertilizer companies big bucks. On the positive side, there has been much more precipitation this year than last, but all that moisture has delayed the start of planting.
A source said activity had been strong in Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa, but was stopped again last week due to weather. For the most part, little was moving out of terminals and warehouses last week, but if the weather cooperates there will be a major rush to get product and get it on the ground. Terminal prices for DAP were in the $495-$505/st FOB range pretty much throughout the area served by NOLA barges.
Farmers were concerned about the late start. Dealers were mostly full, but sources said supplies can be exhausted quickly if demand picks up rapidly in multiple locations.
The first unit train was scheduled to leave St. Louis last week, but was delayed because the customer said he did not have enough room in his bins to take the full load.
Crop prices for grain products were mixed last week compared to the previous week, with corn and soybeans up and wheat heading down. Corn for May was pegged at $6.535/bushel last week, up from $6.33/bushel a week earlier. Corn for December 2013 was $5.4125/bushel, up from $5.3725/bushel at last report, while corn for December 2014 was posted at $5.4575/bushel, up from $5.415/bushel the previous week.
Soybeans for May were at $14.035/bushel, up from $13.6575/bushel the previous week, while bean prices for November 2013 increased to $12.2825/bushel from $12.245/bushel at last report. Soybeans for November 2014 were posted at $12.2925/bushel, up from $12.2125/bushel the previous week.
Wheat for May was $6.97/bushel, down sharply from $7.8825/bushel the previous week. Wheat for July 2013 decreased to $7.02255/bushel from $7.865/bushel at last report, while wheat for July 2014 was listed at $7.495/bushel last week, down from $8.1675/bushel the previous week.
The NOLA DAP barge price was quoted at $460-$470/st FOB last week, based on the combination of a few trades and offers. The range was down slightly from the previous week’s range of $465-$472/st FOB.