US Gulf:
Prompt urea barges continued to post a large premium, and were put as high as $440-$450/st FOB. Barges sailing in late-May or first-week June were reported as low as $300/st FOB, however.
US Imports:
March urea imports fell 18.3%, to 618,880 st from the year-ago 757,614 st. Imports stood at 3.23 million st in the July-March fertilizer year-to-date, off 26.6% from 4.40 million st.
July-March imports from Qatar totaled 908,188 st, while Russia followed with 556,576 st. Saudi Arabia added 467,898 st, ahead of 405,217 st from Oman.
US Exports:
March urea exports fell 24.8%, to 124,280 st from 165,187 st in March 2022. July-March exports moved up 143.6%, however, to 1.23 million st from 506,375 st in the prior year.
Eastern Cornbelt:
Urea remained at $495-$520/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, with the low confirmed at Cincinnati, Ohio.
Western Cornbelt:
Urea pricing was steady at $480-$520/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, with the low confirmed at St. Louis, Mo.
Northern Plains:
Urea was quoted at $500/st FOB St. Paul, Minn., and $540/st FOB Carrington and Alton, N.D. Delivered urea pricing ranged broadly at $535-$600/st in the Northern Plains, depending on location and point of origin, with the low confirmed for tons shipping into North Dakota from Western Canada.
Northeast:
Urea pricing in the Northeast was quoted at $470/st FOB Fairless Hills, Pa., $480-$490/st FOB Baltimore, Md., and up to $510-$520/st FOB East Liverpool, Ohio. Those levels were up from the previous $460-$490/st FOB range, depending on location.
Eastern Canada:
Eastern Canada urea was quoted in a broad range at C$675-$875/mt FOB in mid-May, depending on location and supplier.
India:
The last of the tons from the IPL tender are reportedly being rounded up and loaded to vessels in order to meet the June 1 shipping deadline. A new tender is still expected to be called in late May or early June.
Indonesia:
Prices remain at $330-$335/mt FOB following last week’s selling tender. The price was temporarily bumped higher when Malaysia’s Petronas needed a cargo to cover product lost due to an unexpected plant shutdown. The tons sold in the last Indonesian sale are reportedly headed for the Philippines, as replacement for tons that were meant to come from the stricken Petronas facility.
Trade Data Monitor put January-March urea exports at 107,000 mt, a 47% decrease from 203,000 mt recorded in first-quarter 2022.
March was the first month of 2023 that Indonesia exported urea, sending 107,000 mt offshore, down 46% from 198,000 mt in the previous March. The tons were sent to traditional regional buyers. Australia and Vietnam accounted for about 35,000 mt each, while the Philippines bought 27,000 mt.
Middle East:
Producers were mostly busy filling orders for the IPL/India tender, along with a few long-term contract sales. There has been limited spot buying interest from the area due to a relative balance in the region’s supply and demand.
Sources said the price remains in the low-$330s/mt FOB. However, the few buyers who have approached producers were said to push for prices in the $320s/mt FOB. Deals were rumored to have been done in the $320s/mt FOB, but without confirmation.
China:
Sources said that producers continue to offer $335-$338/mt FOB for granular, and are willing to accept $10/mt less for prills, citing reports that at least one roughly 30,000 mt granular cargo was offered at that level. Buyers, however, are pushing for lower prices, and no deal has been done so far.
Brazil:
The landed price was pegged at $320-$335/mt CFR, down from the previous $340-$345/mt CFR. Sources said that bidders have become more aggressive in what they see as a softening market. There were reports of bids coming in at $295-$305/mt CFR, but without luck so far.
The Rondonopolis price was reported at $460-$470/mt FOB ex-warehouse, also showing a drop from the previous week. Limited business by local distributors was put off to the usual seasonal slump in urea sales for this time of the year. Some have also pointed to the global slide in urea prices as an extra bargaining tool for lower prices.
January-April urea imports were logged at 1.8 million mt, according to Trade Data Monitor, a9% decrease from the year-ago 2 million mt. April imports stood at 451,000 mt, up from 371,000 mt received in April 2022. Qatar topped the March import list with 130,000 mt, followed by 84,000 mt from Venezuela and 53,000 mt from Russia.
Bangladesh:
State-run Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Ltd. (CUFL) suspended production on May 5 due to non-availability of natural gas supply, according to Bangladesh news portal Risingbd. The plant previously restarted ammonia and urea production on March 23, following a four-month outage due to fire (GM March 31, p. 5).
Black Sea:
Prices remained stable. Prilled urea was pegged at $300-$305/mt FOB.