U.S. Gulf:
Sources continued to note a quiet NOLA UAN barge market for the week, as producers focused efforts toward moving earlier sales upriver during a run of poor planting conditions. “Waiting on the weather to clear again, then corn will go in the ground quickly,” said one source. “Once that happens, UAN will perk up.”
Price ideas on NOLA barges continued to track around $300/st ($9.38/unit) FOB, steady from the prior report. East Coast vessels were flat at $345-$350/mt CFR.
Eastern Cornbelt:
The UAN-32 market remained at $325-$345/st ($10.16-$10.78/unit) FOB in the region, depending on location, with the low at Mount Vernon and the high at Burns Harbor, Ind. Rail-DEL pricing was generally reported in the $340-$370/st ($10.63-$11.56/unit) in the region.
Sources continued to peg the Cincinnati, Ohio, market at $330-$332/st ($10.31-$10.38/unit) for UAN-32 and $287-$291/st ($10.25-$10.39/unit) FOB for UAN-28, with Toledo, Ohio, UAN-28 pricing reported at the $293/st ($10.46/unit) FOB level.
Most industry contacts said they don’t anticipate a big dent in sidedress UAN demand after the heavy preplant ammonia run. “My opinion is that we will not get enough ammonia down to negatively impact the usage of UAN, and if so, it could easily be offset with additional corn acres over and above the latest USDA report,” said one source. “We normally don’t see much product switching, but it sure gets a lot of rhetoric and press. Even a 100,000-200,000 ton swing this time of year is a rounding error as no one has accurate data as to what the grower is going to do until after the fact.”
Western Cornbelt:
The UAN-32 market was steady at $325-$345/st ($10.16-$10.78/unit) FOB for prompt tons in the Western Cornbelt, with the low at St. Louis and the high at Hastings, Neb. Reference pricing for May-June shipment remained at $340/st ($10.63/unit) FOB Fort Dodge, Iowa, and $345/st ($10.78/unit) FOB Sergeant Bluff. Pricing out of Oklahoma production plants was pegged at $340-$350/st ($10.63-$10.94/unit) FOB in mid-April.
Northern Plains:
The UAN-32 market was unchanged at $357/st ($11.16/unit) FOB Winona, Minn., in mid-April, with reports of UAN-28 tons offered at the $320/st ($11.43/unit) level FOB Harvey, N.D.
Great Lakes:
UAN-28 ranged from $305-$338/st ($10.89-$12.07/unit) FOB in the Great Lakes region, with the low confirmed at Courtright and the high at Coldwater, Mich. Other terminal levels in mid-April included $308/st ($11.00/unit) FOB Webberville, $316/st ($11.29/unit) FOB Bay City, Mich., $325/st ($11.61/unit) FOB Schoolcraft, Mich., and $335/st ($11.96/unit) FOB Burns Harbor.
“With sidedress happening in May instead of June, the supply system will be stressed,” said one regional source.
Northeast:
The UAN-32 market in the Northeast was pegged at $340-$345/st ($10.63-$10.78/unit) FOB Fairless Hills and Baltimore, Md., depending on time of shipment, with the low for prompt April tons and upper end reported for May-June offers at Fairless. Pricing out of terminals in upstate New York remained at the $360/st ($11.25/unit) FOB level in mid-April.