U.S. Gulf: Loaded, prompt granular barges continued to be strong last week, though down from the last report.
The market was reported to have topped out at $370/st FOB, with barges that were two weeks out as low as $330/st FOB. Second-half or all August was called $315-$322/st FOB. Chinese product was generally called $285-$290/st FOB for August-October trades.
Prills were reported to be a little softer at $335/st FOB. Yara was reported to be back in action and again producing product in Libya, at least for now, and was reported to be loading a vessel.
Eastern Cornbelt: Granular urea continued to be quoted at $425-$440/st FOB regional terminals in the Eastern Cornbelt, although tons were very tight.
Western Cornbelt: The granular urea market in the Western Cornbelt remained at $425-$440/st FOB regional terminals and in very tight supply, with many locations out of product. Iowa sources quoted the common dealer market at $430-$435/st FOB last week, with the St. Louis, Mo., market pegged at $425-$430/st FOB.
Southern Plains: Sources continued to talk of very tight granular urea supplies in the Southern Plains. Although some pegged the Catoosa, Okla., urea market at $425-$430/st FOB for any available tons last week, others said there were no tons to be had at the port.
“You can’t buy anything,” said one regional contact. “We’d be at $460/st FOB if we had any to sell.”
South Central: Urea movement on rice continued in the South Central region last week, though weather remained a factor. A severe thunderstorm watch was in effect on July 23 for nearly half of Arkansas. Over the previous weekend, precipitation was reported throughout the Lower Mississippi Valley, with particularly heavy rainfall in parts of Louisiana and Texas.
Terminals remained depleted in the region. “Inventories are as low as I can remember on almost all products,” added another contact. “There is not one bin in my terminal what you can’t see the back wall.”
Sources pegged the prompt granular urea market at $415-$425/st FOB terminals in the South Central region, with the low end of the range FOB Memphis, Tenn. Sources said movement on rice should continue into August, though the application pace has slowed considerably.
Southeast: Granular urea was in tight supply at $420-$430/st FOB terminals in the Southeast, with the low quoted out of the Savannah, Ga., market.
India: The IPL tender closed early last week, with more tonnage offered than expected. Almost 4 million mt of prilled urea was offered by 34 companies at prices that were very attractive to the Indians.
Sources report that within just a few days of the tender closing and IPL sending out counter bids, the buying house got enough positive responses to book about 1.2 million mt. An additional 300,000-400,000 mt may still be booked before the validity date of Aug. 26.
The lowest price came from Liven at $274.77/mt CFR. An additional 1.3 million mt was offered between $274.87/mt and $275.99/mt CFR. The estimated netback to China on these offers put the price in the low $260s/mt FOB.
The tabulation of the tender follows:
| IPL Urea Tender July 21, 2014 | |||||
| Offering Company | Origin | Quantity (,000 mt) | US$/mt CFR | Discharge Port | |