U.S. Gulf: Prompt granular barges were firm last week as players made their last push to get barges up the river to meet its close. New trades were put in the $295-$305/st FOB range, with late October-November called $285-$290/st FOB.
Prills were called softer at $300-$310/st FOB.
Eastern Cornbelt: Granular urea pricing had reportedly slipped to $320-$340/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, down $5/st from last report, with the low reported at Cincinnati, Ohio.
Western Cornbelt: Granular urea remained at $320-$335/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, depending on location.
California: The granular urea market in California had reportedly slipped to $390-$400/st FOB, down some $30-$40/st from last report. No delivered prices were reported for urea in California last week.
Pacific Northwest: Granular urea pricing was pegged at $375-$380/st FOB Rivergate, Ore., with delivered tons quoted solidly at the $400/st level in the Pacific Northwest in early October.
Western Canada: Granular urea remained at $505-$510/mt DEL in Manitoba, $510-$515/mt DEL in Saskatchewan, and $515-$530/mt DEL in Alberta and British Columbia, but sources reported no new business to test the market. One source speculated that any new sales would likely be in the $430-$440/mt DEL range in the region to attract business.
India: The MMTC tender results keep bobbing up and down.
Initially sources said only about 500,000 mt would be taken under the tender. As Green Markets went to press, however, industry watchers were reporting that MMTC and a handful of traders have tentative agreements to ship at least 900,000 mt to 1 million mt.
The validity date for the offers was Monday, Oct. 7. Sources say they expect to see MMTC negotiating right up to the final moment, with MMTC bidding with different prices for different ports.
The larger east coast ports are being held to the Bary Chemical price of $294.95/mt CFR. West coast ports so far are facing prices of $297-$298/mt CFR. Reports are circulating that letters of intent have been exchanged with a number of the trading houses, but no one has yet confirmed this.
One trader noted that MMTC was not just working its way up the offering list. Reportedly the MMTC agents jumped around to different offering companies to see who would be willing to accept a bid within their price ranges.
The move to take 1 million mt makes sense, said one trader. Offers in the tender were lower than expected. Sources were expecting prices closer to $300/mt CFR. At the same time, the Indian rupee has regained some of its value. This will make the large purchase less damaging to the Indian treasury.
China is expected to be the big winner in this tender. Sources reported that about 600,000 mt accounted for the first round of award agreements. As the purchase quantity went up, sources said more tons are expected to come from China and Iran.
Shipments must begin by Nov. 11. Sources say this will work out fine for the Chinese. Tons in the bonded warehouses by the end of the month can be shipped after the deadline for the low-tax export season passes at the end of this month.
Everyone in the industry expects to see Chinese tons flow to India for several weeks after the deadline.
Pakistan: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) decided late last week to authorize TCP to import 500,000 mt of urea by the end of the year.
The ECC deliveries are to be broken into two lots. The first will be 300,000 mt to be delivered in November. The second of 200,000 mt will be scheduled for December.
The earliest TCP could close the tender would be Friday, Oct. 11, say sources. Normally, TCP must give a one-month notice for an