U.S. Gulf/Tampa: Major players settled the Tampa June anhydrous ammonia market at $450/mt CFR, down from May’s $465/mt CFR. Sources had been predicting a drop based on recent weakness at some global points, most notably Black Sea.
The June NYMEX natural gas price closed May 21 at $2.949/mmBtu, down from the May 14 close of $3.008/mmBtu.
Eastern Cornbelt: The anhydrous ammonia market was quoted at $610-$620/st FOB Illinois terminals last week, with the upper end of the regional range pegged at the $630/st FOB level in Indiana.
Western Cornbelt: Anhydrous ammonia was reported in a broad range at $570-$620/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, with the high in Missouri and the low confirmed out of Nebraska terminals. Iowa sources quoted the dealer market commonly in the $610-$615/st FOB range last week, with delivered tons reported in the low-$600s in Missouri from southern production points.
Southern Plains: Anhydrous ammonia pricing has reportedly dropped to $520-$530/st FOB Oklahoma production points, down some $20/st from last report. As spring demand ebbs in the Southern Plains, sources reported “a lot of trucks” moving ammonia from southern production points to Midwest locations.
The upper end of the regional ammonia range remained at $570/st FOB out of Kansas pipeline terminals.
Agrium confirmed a 4-5 day outage at its Borger, Texas, facility during the week, but offered no additional details other than describing the outage as “short-term.”
South Central: Anhydrous ammonia pricing had fallen to $585/st FOB Memphis, Tenn., down $5/st from last report. The upper end of the regional range was pegged at $610-$620/st FOB Henderson, Ky.
Middle East: Asian sources talked of $480/mt CFR being concluded, but without naming a buyer. At the same time, Trammo concluded a deal with Sabic at $404/mt FOB. Industry watchers say the two could be related because the freight rate is right.
Industry sources report that such a jump in pricing is against the general trend of the market, however, and may represent a one-off deal.
Black Sea: Prices are reported all over the place. Some say the market has settled at $380-$390/mt FOB, while others claim the level is $10/mt higher. At the same time, some buyers are arguing that they picked up material at $400/mt CFR for a $350/mt FOB netback.
The best guess from sources, however, keeps the Yuzhnyy market hovering at around $390/mt FOB, with a bit of softness in the air.