U.S. Gulf: Potash barges continued to be called $290-$295/st FOB, with little interest. In the meantime, reports circulated that the recent Trammo vessel laden with BPC product cleared U.S. Customs and is in NOLA.
Eastern Cornbelt: Potash was quoted at $330-$340/st FOB regional warehouses in the Eastern Cornbelt, down another $5/st from last report.
Western Cornbelt: Potash pricing in the Western Cornbelt had reportedly dipped to as low as $320-$325/st FOB out of some regional warehouses for new orders last week, down another $10/st from the previous week’s low. The upper end of the regional range was reported in the $330-$340/st FOB range last week.
Southern Plains: The warehouse potash market had reportedly slipped to $330-$335/st FOB in the Southern Plains, down another $4-$10/st from last report.
Effective Sept. 8, Intrepid’s potash postings FOB Carlsbad, N.M., dropped $20/st from the company’s July 1 reference prices, moving to $345/st FOB for 60 percent granular and 62 percent standard, and $352/st FOB for 62 percent granular and Super Sol 62™.
The SOP Magnesia market FOB Carlsbad remained at $385-$400/st, depending on grade.
South Central: Sources continued to report pressure on potash prices in the South Central region. The market had reportedly slipped to $330-$335/st FOB regional warehouses, down another $5/st from last report.
Southeast: Potash was quoted at $340-$345/st FOB port warehouses in the Southeast, with rail-delivered tons reported in roughly the same range. Those levels reflected a $10-$15/st drop from summer pricing levels.
Brazil: The fall in the Brazilian real to an all-time low against the U.S. dollar this week has further boosted the prospect of increased soybean plantings in the country this year, despite some dry weather concerns as the planting season gets underway.
The real touched R$4.18 against the dollar on Sept. 23, the lowest level since the real was introduced in 1994. Trade estimates indicate Brazilian soybean plantings could rise at least 3 percent this year, and possibly as much as 5-6 percent.
The fall in value of the Brazilian real is also supporting corn planting. Some trade sources now expect the country’s corn acreage to be at a similar level to last year, while earlier expectations called for a major swing in favor of soybeans.
So far, however, there has been little indication of a significant upturn in demand for potash. De-stocking from warehouses where inventory levels remain high is also curbing demand for freshly imported material.
Still, some suppliers remain optimistic that demand will pick up. Uralkali is reported to be bringing in around 100,000 mt of potash this month, but some of this is expected to go into the supplier’s own storage system. As reported last week, BPC is rumored to have sold 50,000-60,000 mt of granular potash for September shipment, reportedly priced at about the $310/mt CFR level (GM Sept. 21, p. 10).
Buyers’ ideas remain at around the $290/mt CFR level. Some sources say deals have been concluded as low as $300/mt CFR, but this could not be confirmed by press time.
Southeast Asia: Buying interest continues to be extremely weak, with little sign of plantation buyers entering the market.
While prices for standard potash for the region as a whole remain at $300-$320/mt CFR, sources says buyers’ ideas in Malaysia are now as low as $290/mt CFR.