AMMONIA
U.S. Gulf/Tampa: Nothing new was reported on the import vessel market, though higher numbers continue to be discussed for NOLA. The last done at NOLA is called $300/st FOB, with the suggestion that something higher was possible last week.
Eastern Cornbelt: The spot ammonia market remained at $515-$520/st FOB regional terminals, with spring prepay offers reported in the $525-$530/st FOB range.
Western Cornbelt: Anhydrous ammonia pricing remained at $505-$520/st FOB regional terminals, with the low in Nebraska and the upper numbers in Iowa and eastern Missouri.
Northern Plains: Ammonia continued to move well for fall applications in the Dakotas, and Minnesota dealers were optimistic that fieldwork would be heavy again soon after some mid-month rain delays. The ammonia market was quoted at $505-$515/st FOB terminals, with delivered ammonia pegged in a broad range at $525-$550/st DEL in North Dakota.
Dakota Gasification was referenced at $545-$550/st DEL to the dealer for allocated spot tons, with the company’s Beulah, N.D., ammonia plant running at full capacity and demand described as strong. The company was not offering spring prepay ammonia yet last week.
Agrium’s anhydrous ammonia postings firmed on Oct. 9 to $510/st FOB Mankato, Minn., a $15/st increase from the company’s Oct. 1 posted price. Other Agrium reference levels included $530/st FOB and $550/st DEL in the Leal, Velva, Grand Forks, and Beulah sales area in North Dakota.
Eastern Canada: Sources reported no fall demand for ammonia, and not enough activity to test the market. Spot anhydrous ammonia pricing was quoted by one source at $545/mt FOB in Ontario for immediate pull, but actual sales at that level were not confirmed. No spring prepay programs were being offered yet in the region.
Black Sea: Asian sources say the price has moved to “normal” levels now that the turnarounds in the area are done.
A deal at $255/mt FOB was confirmed by Yara. Another deal as low as $250/mt FOB was reported, but Asian observers could not name the buyer or final destination.
For industry watchers, however, it is clear that the market is sliding softly to pre-summer levels. And that is about where people expect it to stop.
Even anxious buyers are looking at the slide and figuring $250/mt FOB will be the nadir for prices. Once U.S. demand picks up, prices are expected to stabilize and begin edging up.
One Asian trader figured that by mid-December the price should start its climb up again.
For now, prices are pegged solidly in the mid-$250s/mt FOB, with a good chance the rumored $250/mt FOB deal could be the industry standard by next week.
Middle East: Supplies are tight and buyers in the area are getting nervous.
Iran’s IPCC #1 and #2 facilities are going down for turnarounds next month. The shutdowns should last through the end of the year.
These turnarounds, plus the continued delay in getting IPCC plant #3 online and a scheduled turnaround for Qafco #2 next month, lead observers to say there is a growing shortage in the area.
The absence of the three Iranian facilities means a shortfall of about 1 million mt/y from the area. The loss of the two operating plants for turnarounds means a reduction of about 60,000 mt for the rest of the year. The plant that was to start operations much earlier is rated at 660,000 mt/y. Each month it stays off-line, 55,000 mt/m is lost to the global market.
Prices are edging upward, with recent offers at $260/mt FOB. While no one has accepted that level, sources in Asia say it will only be a matter of days before producers get what they want.
Adding to the upward price pressure are the routine closures of two major ammonia producers in Asia. The KPI and KPA facilities in Indonesia will be going down during November and December for scheduled maintenance work. The absence of these two facilities is prompting traders and buyers to look mostly to the Middle East for replacement tons.
A couple of weeks ago Mitsui bought a cargo from Sabic at $245/mt FOB. That move signaled the beginning of the price run-up.
Another monkey wrench was tossed into the long-term plans of buyers when word filtered out of Egypt that the EBIC facility will not start up until the third quarter of next year.
Originally, the plant was to be up and running by March 2008. Even the new estimate of when the 660,000 mt/y facility will be operating is optimistic, said one Asian dealer. His best guess for the plant coming online is the latter part of the fourth quarter of next year.
Asia: Mitsui is moving to make sure its customers are not short of material while its facility in Indonesia goes down for routine maintenance.
Sources report Mitsui paid $245/mt FOB to SABIC a couple of weeks ago. Last week it paid $255/mt FOB to Kaltim for another cargo.
Demand in Asia remains strong. Downstream users are using every ounce of ammonia provided. The buyers seem to be taking reports of a tightening market seriously. One source noted that the end users are calling their suppliers to make sure the contracted tons will arrive on time.
No one is calling for extra tons, an observer said; they are just making sure that what they were promised arrives.
Part of the concern is not just the plant turnaround schedule in the Middle East and Asia, but also the availability of vessels at the right time and place.
Sources in Asia say there are spot shortages of ships as some vessels are pulled out of their regular routes to cover a contract.
UREA
U.S. Gulf: Price ideas were all over the board last week. While many folks were talking low-$350s/st FOB, others claimed product was sold in the high $350s/st FOB. Odds are the middle was the safest place to be, with reports late in the week that a barge was sold around $355/st FOB. Still, earlier in the week there was one report of a granular barge being sold as low as $351/st FOB, and another that one was sold as high as $359/st FOB.
Eastern Cornbelt: Granular urea was steady at $390-$395/st FOB in the region, with few new sales to test the market.
Western Cornbelt: Granular urea was quoted at $390-$400/st FOB, with the upper end reflecting dealer list prices at some locations.
Northern Plains: Granular urea pricing was up from last report, with the dealer market tagged at $395-$400/st FOB the Twin Cities. Delivered urea was pegged at the $415/st mark in North Dakota, with some reports of $425/st DEL offers for spring.
Agrium’s granular urea postings firmed on Oct. 9 to $410/st FOB Shakopee, Minn., and North Dakota terminals at Alton, Carrington, Colfax, Marion, and Scranton, and $415/st railDEL in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas. Those levels represent a $15/st increase from the company’s Oct. 1 urea postings at those locations.
Northeast: Granular urea pricing was at $390-$395/st FOB Baltimore, Md., and Philadelphia, Pa., up slightly from last report.
Eastern Canada: The granular urea market was pegged at $460-$479/mt FOB, with the upper end reflecting dealer reference pricing in Ontario. On a delivered basis, urea was pegged at $475-$500/mt in Ontario and Quebec.
Terra reported last week that its Courtright plant is down for a turnaround. The facility is expected to be back up in early November.
India: IPL closed its tender Oct. 23 and was still working the numbers and offering companies well into Friday.
Prices showed a marked increase from the previous tender and a decided decline in the volume of material offered.
Even if all the seller’s options are exercised, just slightly less than 600,000 mt were offered. For traders, this is growing evidence of an ever-tightening market.
Sources estimate that India still needs between 500,000 mt and 1.1 million mt by the end of the year.
About 220,000 mt offered came in higher than $370/mt CFR, which was the high end of what IPL was reportedly ready to pay.
Offers from the Middle East were at $345-348/mt FOB, which translates to about $370-$375/mt CFR, depending on whose freight numbers are to be believed.
Most of the offers were for open sourcing of material. The conventional wisdom is those tons will come from China. If IPL gets desperate some material may come from the CIS, but that is considered a long shot.
Sources say the non-Chinese tonnage can be easily identified because it is the material that is slated for delivery after Jan. 1. The export duty on Chinese urea will revert to 30 percent in January. This higher tariff will apply to all urea shipped after the first of the year no matter when the contract was signed.
One trader noted that supplies on the west coast of India are lower than the reserves on the east coast. This disparity may work in the favor of the Middle East suppliers who can move different sized vessels to different ports as needed. The extra cost in transportation to move Chinese material to go to the west coast could also be to the Middle East suppliers’ advantage.
Sources were surprised to see the offers from the Middle East suppliers.
Earlier in the month, rumors abounded that IPL had secured tons at $333-$335/mt FOB from the Middle East in pre-tender deals.
Traditionally, the tender results confirm the pre-tender deals. Usually the offers made under the terms of the pre-tender deals reflect the negotiated price. This time, however, the Middle East suppliers appear to have added $10/mt to the deal.
One trader noted any number of things could have happened. The rumors could have been wrong or the deal could have fallen through once the true strength of the market became clearer as the tender deadline approached.
Another report circulating is that IPL did take a cargo from Fertil at $335/mt FOB, but was unable to secure any other deals with Middle East suppliers. In addition, the Fertil offer in the tender represents a separate offer from the pre-tender deal.
The industry will be looking to see how the prices shake out in the end. IPL is not known for spending a lot of time trying to haggle on prices.
Everyone knows India needs the tons. Everyone knows the market is tightening. And so everyone expects IPL to at least accept the sub-$370/mt CFR tons along with the Middle East offers.
Offers in the tender follow:
| Supplier | Origin | US$/mt | Remarks | |||
| FOB | CFR | |||||
| Toepfer | Open | 60-75 | 365.00 | 3 cargoes | ||
| 40-50 | 366.00 | 2 cargoes | ||||
| 55-58 | 396.00 | |||||
| Keytrade | Open | 25-35 | 368.00 | |||
| Transammonia | Open | 50 | 369.50 | 1-2 lots at seller option | ||
| CIFC | Open | 25 | 377.50 | |||
| 40 | 379.25 | 2 lots at seller option | ||||
| SABIC | Saudi Arabia | 25 | 345.00 | |||
| 25 | Seller option | |||||
| QAFCO | Qatar | 50 | 348.00 | |||
| FERTIL | UAE | 20-25 | 348.00 | |||
| 15 | Seller option | |||||
| Avemore | Open | 25 | 383.99 | |||
| Indagro | China | 25 | 384.00 | |||
| 25 | ||||||
| Conagra | Open | 25-30 | 385.00 | |||
| Swiss-Singapore | China/CIS/AG | 25 | 317.00 | 386.00 | ||
| 388.00 | ||||||
| EFC | Egypt | 25-30 | 365 |
Chances are awards will be made by the weekend.
If IPL takes only material priced $370/mt CFR and lower, sources say there is a good chance another tender will be held soon.
Reportedly, the powers that be in the Indian government have already approved another tender by MMTC. Sources in the industry say the tender could be called as early as this week.
Indeed, on Friday, Oct. 26, came word that IPL had booked some tons, including 50,000 mt from Transammonia at $368.50/mt CFR Kandla; 3 x 20-25,000 mt from Toepfer at $365/mt CFR Vizag or $366/mt CFR Paradip; and 25-35,000mt from Keytrade at $366.00/mt CFR Vizag.
Additionally, it is reported that IPL booked the following cargoes prior to the tender: Balderton, 25,000 mt at $365/mt CFR Vizag, and Swiss Singapore 50,000 mt at $365/mt CFR Vizag.
MMTC has issued another urea tender for an unspecified quantity closing Nov. 1.
Black Sea: Word circulated earlier this month that the minimum sale price allowed was dropped and that some Yuzhnyy material could have been offered in the IPL/India tender.
Whatever hopes buyers had for lower cost urea, however, went out the window as soon as the tender was called.
By the middle of last week the price had moved into the $330s/mt FOB, and by week’s end $345/mt FOB was reported for a full cargo.
Sources say a major trading house looking to secure tons for previous commitments has been aggressive in the Yuzhnyy market.
With a $60/mt freight package for a panamax to India, the resulting cost is too high for the Indians to consider.
Strong demand from Latin America and Turkey seems to be propping up the Yuzhnyy market, along with the Black Sea competitors selling to India. The resulting tightness in the Black Sea and dearth of tons for non-India business from other providers helps justify the higher Yuzhnyy price.
Sources say with the possible exception of 15-20,000 mt, Yuzhnyy is sold out for November. Producers are asking $350/mt FOB, but so far no one has taken the bait.
Middle East: Offers in the IPL tender show that producers are anxious to get the price up, but not so foolish as to move it too fast. Previous attempts to jump-start a price rally by offering tons at $15-$20/mt higher than the existing market left the Middle East producers with no contracts. This time around, as supplies tighten around the world, the producers are willing to take smaller steps to move the price up.
Prior to the IPL tender Fertil reportedly concluded a deal with IPL at $335/mt FOB for one cargo. Other producers demurred.
By the time the tender was called, the market was ready to accept a higher price from the region. This time the jump was only $10/mt. In addition, this time the delivered price from the Middle East to India was not extraordinarily out of line with other offers.
Even though IPL would prefer paying less, sources say the Indian west coast needs more material and the Middle East guys are in a prime position to take care of that need. One trader noted that even though the Chinese FOB price is lower, once freight to India’s west coast is added in, the price becomes almost the same as taking Middle East tons.
Advantage to the Middle East.
Based on the pre-tender deal and the IPL tender, sources give the area market a wide price range of $335-$345/mt FOB. Most likely within the next week or so, the lower end will disappear.
China: Freight out of China to India is on the way up. With so many tons from China being offered in Indian tenders, sources say taking care of the logistics to line up vessels and proper port time is becoming more difficult.
Sources now peg the cost of moving urea from China to India at $70/mt. This represents about a $10/mt increase in just a few weeks.
One Asian trader noted that December loadings could become difficult as buyers hustle to get their cargoes loaded and gone before Jan. 1, when the export duty doubles to 30 percent. Ship owners are becoming reluctant to commit their vessels to a Chinese pick up if it runs the risk of spending several days at anchorage waiting for a loading berth.
Bangladesh: Most traders have given up trying to figure out what Bangladesh needs and how they will get it. Sources agree the recent floods have devastated the agricultural sector and more urea is needed. As reported last week, the government quickly authorized the importation of 137,000 mt. The problem has always been navigating the tender and award process with BCIC.
Even trading houses that have had long-term relationships in the area express their frustration with the amount of time it takes the BCIC bureaucracy to review the tenders and make awards. By the time the reviews have been completed in the past, say sources, the offers are no longer valid and the market has moved on to higher levels.
Recently, if an award is made and accepted, the offering company is not a normal urea trader. The company eventually has to forfeit its performance bond because it cannot secure the promised tons at the awarded price.
To move things a little faster, area media report the central bank is telling the commodity banks to process letters of credit more quickly so awards and payments can be handled in a timely manner.
NITROGEN SOLUTIONS
U.S. Gulf: Barge numbers were reported to be firm-to-higher, with sources noting much higher price expectations for import cargoes to the East Coast.
Eastern Cornbelt: UAN-32 was reported in a fairly broad range at $310-$323.20/st ($9.69-$10.10/unit) FOB regional terminals, with the upper end reflecting dealer reference levels. Out of Wisconsin terminals, sources quoted the UAN-32 market at $323.20/st ($10.10/unit) FOB for prompt tons and $326.40/st ($10.20/unit) FOB for prepay.
Western Cornbelt: UAN-32 remained in a broad range at $305-$320/st ($9.53-$10.00/unit) FOB terminals, with the low out of spot locations in Nebraska.
Northern Plains: UAN pricing was up from last report. The market was quoted at $9.90-$10.20/unit FOB regional terminals for spot tons, with the low FOB Winona, Minn. Pricing for spring prepay ranged from $10.00-$10.30/unit FOB in the region, depending on location.
Northeast: The UAN-30 market was up considerably from last report. The dealer market was tagged at $277-$280/st ($9.23-$9.33/unit) FOB Baltimore, with some reports of dealer reference pricing at the $281/st ($9.37/unit) FOB level as the week advanced. Out of terminals in upstate New York, the UAN-32 market was reported at $10.00/unit FOB to the dealer, with a move to $10.20/unit FOB slated for Oct. 29.
The UAN vessel market was quoted at $305-$310/mt C&F for some incoming tons, with reports that new vessels are being talked about in the $315-$320/mt C&F range.
Eastern Canada: Sources reported reference levels for UAN ranging from $11.63-$11.79/unit FOB in the region before discounts, but Ontario sources talked of rail-DEL solutions tons available for $11.25-$11.50/unit last week.
AMMONIUM NITRATE
U.S. Gulf: Prices for AN barges continue to move up, with sources reporting new numbers in the $290s/st FOB last week.
Western Cornbelt: Ammonium nitrate was pegged at $325-$330/st FOB, with the upper end reported in Missouri.
Eastern Canada: Ammonium nitrate was quoted at $345-$365/mt FOB for the last sales, but sources reported no current activity to test the market.
AMMONIUM SULFATE
Eastern Cornbelt: Granular ammonium sulfate pricing was firm at $230-$240/st FOB in the region.
Western Cornbelt: Granular ammonium sulfate remained in tight supply at $225-$235/st FOB, with delivered granular sulfate referenced at $235/st in Nebraska.
Northern Plains: Granular ammonium sulfate was pegged at $235/st FOB in Minnesota, with delivered sulfate quoted at $235/st in North Dakota, and $240/st in northern Minnesota and South Dakota. Agrium’s Oct. 12 ammonium sulfate postings included $235/st DEL in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas.
Northeast: Granular ammonium sulfate remained at $220-$225/st FOB in the region.
Eastern Canada: Granular ammonium sulfate was quoted at $260-$295/mt FOB in the region.
PHOSPHATES
Central Florida: Producers in Florida continued to load railcars of DAP as rapidly as possible last week, although new sales for prompt delivery slowed. Phosphate companies have booked all of the available unit trains well into next year, and were working at scheduling the remaining single cars. After recent price increases, buyers appeared to be waiting to adjust to the new level, although most have already made their purchases.
With a heavy export schedule already on the books and an even heavier domestic commitment, inventories were low and will not increase until sometime in November, if then. Meanwhile, a robust international market continued to be a factor in pushing up prices in North America. The tight sulfur situation may have the effect of curtailing production, unless the situation changes soon.
DAP, which was available for as low as $395/st FOB last week, was selling at $400/st FOB last week. The new asking price of $405/st FOB had not found any takers as of late last week. With producers booked into April of 2008, there was nothing to burst the bubble of higher prices. That situation will continue well into next year.
The Central Florida DAP price range moved to a new flat rate of $400/st FOB, up from the previous week’s $395/st FOB. Mosaic’s posted price remained at $405/st FOB for DAP and $401/st FOB for MAP. CF’s price moved to $400/st FOB from $395/st FOB for both DAP and MAP, and PotashCorp’s Central Florida reference price also went from $395/st FOB to $405/st FOB. In Texas, Agrifos’ DAP truck price was $440/st FOB, and $425/st FOB for railcars, but railcars were sold out until January, while trucks were still available.
U.S. Gulf: After a flurry of activity during the past few weeks as buyers tried to beat the deadline for price hikes, sales slowed on the river system last week. As expected, sales were made at the top of the previous week’s high in the price range.
With the exception of the Arkansas River, activity at warehouses was brisk or picking up rapidly, especially on the Ohio River. Other areas in the upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers were said to be gaining strength.
Mosaic’s sulfuric acid plant at Donaldsonville, which had been curtailing production, was back to working order last week. The loading schedule there continued to be heavy.
Warehouse prices everywhere except the Arkansas were on the rise last week, moving up from $435/st FOB to $440/st FOB as higher-priced replacement product arrived. Prices at those warehouses will likely continue to increase to account for even more expensive barges. On the Arkansas, warehouse prices remained at the $435/st FOB level because terminals there have product remaining that was not sold in August and September. Sources said sales in October have been meeting projections, but will not overcome the lost sales of the previous couple of months.
All of the sales made last week were done at $420/st FOB, but offers later in the week, which resulted in no prompt sales, were in the $422-$425/st FOB range. Sales were made for delivery in November at $425/st FOB.
The NOLA DAP barge price range last week, based on actual sales, was an even $420/st FOB, compared to the previous week’s $408-$420/st FOB, one of the widest spreads in a long time. This week, expect prices to be closer to $425/st FOB.
Eastern Cornbelt: DAP was pegged at $435-$445/st FOB, with the low out of spot river locations in Illinois and the upper numbers inland. MAP remained at $435-$443/st FOB in the region. Sources said they expect the warehouse market to strengthen to the $440/st FOB mark or higher as lower priced tons are cleaned up. 10-34-0 was quoted at $385-$390/st FOB and in tight supply.
Western Cornbelt: DAP remained at $435-$445/st FOB, with many sources now quoting the common dealer range at the $440-$445/st FOB level. MAP was steady at $435-$442/st FOB, with the low again at spot river locations. 10-34-0 remained in tight supply at a firm $385-$395/st FOB in the region.
Northern Plains: The DAP and MAP markets were reported at $445-$455/st FOB regional warehouses, with the low in Minnesota and the upper end in the Dakotas. Rail-delivered MAP was also quoted at the $458-$460/st level in North Dakota.
10-34-0 pricing was also up from last report at $385-$390/st FOB and $400-$405/st DEL in the region. Supplies were very tight, however, with some suppliers reportedly sold out in late October.
Northeast: DAP was quoted at $447-$455/st FOB in the region last week, depending on location, with the upper end reported in New York. MAP was pegged at $445-$455/st FOB. 10-34-0 remained at $340/st FOB tank locations in upstate New York, with a $5/st increase scheduled for Nov. 1.
Eastern Canada: MAP was tagged at $535-$545/mt FOB warehouses in the region, actually down slightly from last report. No current prices were reported for DAP. TSP was pegged at $520/mt FOB in Ontario, also down from last report.
U.S. Export: PhosChem made a sale of 6,000 mt into Mexico last week at $450/mt FOB, but the new asking price was moved to $460/mt FOB. Compared to North Africa, that was a bargain. The price for North African DAP was pushed up to $490/st FOB. In addition, ocean freight rates continued to rise, which was causing sticker shock for international buyers.
Pakistan was still in the market, but had not made any purchases. Price, likely, was a factor. In China, the high cost of sulfur was pushing up the price of phosphate production, and price hikes at the retail level were likely. A source said the scarcity of product in China will probably result in hiking the export tariff, possibly to as much as 20 percent. That could put a halt to exports from there and make the world market even tighter – and more expensive. The world’s demand for fertilizer has continued to grow for a couple of reasons. More grain is needed to feed livestock to produce protein and, in the U. S., to produce more grain for the growing ethanol industry. Neither of those trends was likely to decrease in the future.
Based on the only sale made last week, the export DAP price range last week was a flat $450/mt FOB. Sales made this week will probably hit the $460/mt FOB price being sought by PhosChem.
POTASH
U.S.: SQM reports that it has moved up its price of potassium nitrate in the U.S. by $40/st due to increases in MOP prices, energy, and logistics costs. The new prices will be effective Dec. 15, 2007.
Eastern Cornbelt: Potash was quoted at a firm $300-$310/st FOB, where available, with reports of some locations now referenced as high as $325/st FOB for spot granular tons. Potash inventories remained in extremely tight supply in the region.
Western Cornbelt: Potash remained in very tight supply, with the market quoted at $300-$305/st FOB in the region.
Northern Plains: Potash remained in extremely tight supply. Reference levels FOB Saskatchewan mines included standard at $222/st, granular at $227/st, and soluble and white granular at $232/st for the October through November shipping period, with a $30/st increase slated for Dec. 1. Out of the warehouse system, a Minnesota dealer tagged the granular potash market firm at the $300/st FOB level last week for very limited tonnage.
Effective Nov. 1, Agrium’s postings for red premium potash FOB Vade, Saskatchewan, will firm to $250/st.
Northeast: Potash was reported at $295-$306/st FOB in the region, where available. The upper end was also quoted for rail-DEL soluble potash to some locations.
Eastern Canada: Potash was quoted at a firm $288/mt FOB New Brunswick mines for red granular material. Out of the warehouse system, sources quoted the dealer market at $323-$328/mt FOB in Ontario and Quebec, with the upper end for white granular potash.
Ontario sources pegged the sulfate of potash price last week at $510/mt FOB, unchanged from last report.
Pacific Northwest: Effective Nov. 1, Agrium’s postings for red premium potash will firm to $302/st FOB and $297/st rail-DEL in southern Idaho, Utah, and Oregon’s Malheur County; $307/st FOB and $302/st rail-DEL in Washington, the Idaho panhandle, and Oregon excluding Malheur County and the Willamette Valley; and $314/st FOB and $309/st rail-DEL in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
SULFUR
Tampa: Sources said sulfur negotiations continued to be difficult, and the two sides were far apart late last week. Phosphate producers were said to have increased their offers to an increase of $15/lt FOB, but sulfur producers were said to continue seeking in excess of $50/lt FOB. A settlement will probably not be achieved until sometime in November, or when accountants starting bringing firearms to work.
Meanwhile, refineries on the Gulf Coast were running normally last week, but supplies continued to be extremely tight. It will take some time for the lost sulfur production during the past few months to come close to making up the gap.
The Sulfur Enterprise was said to still be in dry dock last week, which was not exactly helping ease the supply situation. The vessel should be back in operation in early November.
West Coast: Sulfur producers have reached new contract prices for molten sulfur to prillers on the West Coast at a bump of $30/lt. That brings the new contract prices to the $90-$110/t range. That will still make room for a profit on FOB sales to China, which were running between $120/mt FOB and $140/mt FOB.
Valero was conducting a 30-day turnaround at its Benicia refinery near Stockton, and was planning a 45-day turnaround at its Wilmington plant at Long Beach.
MARKET NOTES
Poland: The Polish opposition party Citizens Union, headed by Donald Tusk, won parliamentary elections Oct. 21 and is to form a new government in November. Tusk must now form a coalition to govern with the Polish Peasants Party. The government of Jaroslaw Kaczynski is expected to resign Nov. 5. Kaczynski had stopped the privatization of industry, including chemical and fertilizer. It is expected that Tusk’s government will be more open to privatization.