U.S. Gulf: Potash continued to strengthen last week, with the last done numbers called $340-$348/st FOB. Sources, however, argued that second-half April numbers are weaker, back to the $335/st FOB level.
U.S. imports were up 4 percent for July-February, to 6.51 million st from the year-ago 6.3 million st. February was up 1 percent, to 775,642 st from the year-ago 767,642 st.
Eastern Cornbelt: Potash was reported at $370-$377/st FOB regional warehouse in the Eastern Cornbelt, depending on grade and location. The Cincinnati market was pegged at $370-$373/st FOB for red granular tons, with the Burns Harbor market quoted at the $375/st FOB level.
Western Cornbelt: Potash remained in tight supply. Spot pricing was pegged at $360-$370/st FOB regional warehouses for red granular tons, with white granular quoted at the $377/st FOB level on a spot basis.
Northern Plains: Minnesota sources tagged the granular potash market at $370-$377/st FOB regional warehouses. Delivered potash in North Dakota was reported in the $360-$380/st range from Saskatchewan, but only “if you can get trucks,” said one contact.
The potash market FOB Saskatchewan mines remained in the $330-$340/st range to U.S. customers, depending on grade.
Great Lakes: Red granular potash was quoted firmly in the $370-$375/st FOB range out of regional warehouses last week. White granular potash was reportedly unavailable in the region in early April.
“Potash is really tight because of the rail delays out of Canada,” said one Michigan source. “White is impossible to find, and we are hearing that DAP is very tight too. I think we will definitely have situations where people can’t get the fertilizer they want this spring.”
Northeast: The potash market remained at $370/st FOB Baltimore and East Liverpool for red granular tons, and $377/st FOB for white.
India: Uralkali has concluded a contract with Indian Potash Ltd. (IPL) for potash deliveries between April 2014 and March 2015. The contract’s delivery price has been set at US$322/mt CFR. Uralkali’s volumes under the contract will total 800,000 mt.
“Today’s agreement is a mutually beneficial one. India is a strategic market for Uralkali, and IPL is our long-term partner,” said Oleg Petrov, Uralkali director of sales and marketing. “We hope that the contract will help stimulate potash application rates in India, and support the country’s agriculture at the time of continued population growth and rising food demand. We expect that the conclusion of the Indian contract will boost the global potash market growth.”
The price is down $105/mt from the year-ago $427/mt CFR, which Belarusian Potash Co. (Uralkali and Belaruskali) concluded. At the time, BPC inked a deal for 1 million mt.
While the price is much lower than what India has paid in recent years, it is still higher than China’s contract of $305/mt CFR, which was achieved early this year. China traditionally pays a lower price than India.
Sources last week were awaiting word as to whether other large sellers would be signing on to some Indian tonnage.
The Indian government is reportedly ready to maintain a set price to the farmers of Rs16,000/mt (US$265/mt). The lower price of the imported potash is expected to offset the reduction in subsidy payments the Indian government wants to hand out during this fiscal year.
All told, IPL expected to import a total of 2.1 million mt this year. Additional imports will end up taking Indian potash imports past the 3.3 million mt imported last year.