U.S. Gulf:
Ammonium sulfate barges continued to firm, with the last done trades reported at $300/st FOB, up from the week-ago $295-$300/st FOB.
U.S. Imports:
May ammonium sulfate imports were reported at 77,271 st, firming 9.0 percent from the year-ago 70,866 st. July-May totals stood at 945,204 st, up 47.1 percent from the year-ago 642,684 st.
Canada led importers in the July-May period with 461,229 st, up 42.0 percent from the year-ago 324,809 st, while Belgium held on to second place with 206,831 through the same period, a 53.2 percent increase from 134,976 st in the prior year. Russian volumes narrowly topped 95,394 st from South Korea, totaling 97,870 st for the period, up 54.2 percent from the year-ago 63,460 st.
U.S. Exports:
May exports of ammonium sulfate softened 13.1 percent, to 51,484 st from the year-ago 59,237 st. Exports totaled 571,488 st for July-May, a 0.3 percent increase from the year-ago 570,032 st.
Eastern Cornbelt:
The ammonium sulfate market remained in the $320-$350/st FOB range in the Eastern Cornbelt, depending on location. AdvanSix’s June 28 postings included $330/st FOB river terminals in the Midwest and Plains regions, with inland warehouses priced at traditional spreads to the river.
Western Cornbelt:
Ammonium sulfate prices were unchanged at $320-$350/st FOB in the region, with the low at St. Louis and Camanche and the high reported at Sioux City, Iowa.
Northern Plains:
Granular ammonium sulfate pricing ranged broadly at $290-$325/st FOB St. Paul, depending on supplier and point of origin. Delivered fill offers into North Dakota were pegged in the $315-$325/st range in early July.
Northeast:
Granular ammonium sulfate remained at $300-$330/st FOB in the Northeast, with the low confirmed at Hopewell, Va., and the high at East Liverpool. Delivered pricing ranged from $340-$345/st in the Northeast.
China:
Prices stabilized in the low-$190s/mt FOB for caprolactam grade ammonium sulfate. Sources said higher prices are expected in the coming months as prices rise on raw materials to the producers.
The higher urea prices are also putting additional pressure on demand for amsul for use in NPK production. And, for the rest of the summer, routine shutdowns of plants in China will deprive the market of 150,000-200,000 mt of product.
The plants reported to be taking turnarounds in July and August include Haili Chemical in Jiangsu (300,000 mt/y); Haili Chemical in Shandong (300,000 mt/y); Luxi Chemicals (300,000 mt/y); Yangmei Group (200,000 mt/y); Zhejiang Hengyi (300,000 mt/y); Shanxi Lubao (150,000 mt/y); and Shandong Heze Dongju (150,000 mt/y).
Buyers will also face continued higher freight rates to go along with the rising cost of the product. Sources said many of the buyers end up adding small lots of amsul to their shipments of other fertilizers such as MAP or urea, just to top off a vessel.
Brazil:
Finding ammonium sulfate at Paranagua is reportedly getting harder. Sources talked of a supply scarcity at the port facility, with prices for granular material edging up about $10/mt, to $300/mt CFR.
The general view of using amsul instead of urea for NPK production has tightened the inland market. Sources said the Rondonopolis price moved up to $370-$415/mt FOB ex-warehouse.
Imports for the first semester of 2021 were up about a third, to 1.7 million mt from 1.28 million mt in January-June 2020, according to Trade Data Monitor. June imports this year were up 46 percent, to 332,000 mt from 228,000 mt in June 2020.
Second-quarter imports for 2021 were down about 12 percent, to 535,000 mt from 607,000 mt in the second quarter of 2020.