Central Florida:
Central Florida DAP trucks were reported at a flat $550/st FOB. MAP prices declined 6.2%, however, to $610/st FOB from the week-ago $650/st FOB. North Florida MAP postings were unchanged from the prior report, with trucks loading from White Springs, Fla., priced at $625/st FOB.
US Gulf:
Phosphate demand remains healthy as the market awaits OCP’s return to the market under the new countervailing duty conditions. DAP prices strengthened to $545-$565/st FOB, a rise from last week’s $540-$545/st FOB. Prompt barges were priced at the top of the range, while December barges and 1Q 2024 loadings set the floor.
MAP prices firmed slightly, to $590-$610/st FOB from last week’s $590-$600/st FOB range. Sources reported upriver trades at $590/st FOB, matching the low at NOLA. MAP availability remains limited, sources said.
US Exports:
No new DAP and MAP export transactions were reported, leaving prices unchanged at $570/mt FOB.
Eastern Cornbelt:
DAP was steady at $590-$600/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, with the low reported at Cincinnati. MAP slipped to $685-$695/st FOB, down $5/st from last report, with the low again reported at Cincinnati.
DAP was quoted at $570-$595/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, with the low reported at St. Louis. MAP pricing landed in the $675-$700/st FOB range in the region in late November, with the low again confirmed at St. Louis and the high reported in Iowa.
California:
MAP pricing in California was pegged at $730-$750/st FOB or DEL in late November, with the low confirmed in Northern California.
Pacific Northwest:
MAP was quoted at $720-$740/st FOB or DEL for prompt tons in the Pacific Northwest in late November. Business at the $695-$705/st DEL level was also reported for 1Q shipments.
Western Canada:
MAP slipped to C$1,050/mt FOB for December-January tons in Western Canada, with delivered prices remaining in the C$1,050-$1,060/mt range.
China:
DAP and MAP exports will be restricted from China in 2024, although the restrictions do not seem to apply to the 400,000 mt currently available at the ports. However, sources speculated that the ban on urea export inspections might also be extended to DAP and MAP.
The price for Chinese DAP remains in the upper-$560s/mt FOB, sources said, despite increasing pressure from India to drop the price to at least $500/mt FOB.
India:
Buyers continue to look for lower DAP prices but keep coming up empty. Arab producers are being just as stubborn as the Chinese producers in refusing to lower their prices, sources said, calling the latest offers into India in the low-$590s/mt CFR, above the last-done level in the upper-$580s/mt CFR.
The Indian government’s decision to reduce the subsidy for phosphates has left importers with the difficult situation of having to supply a product that is currently more expensive to import than the allowable selling price in the country.
Brazil:
Landed MAP prices softened $5/mt at the top of the range, settling at $560-$565/mt CFR. Sources continued to report limited demand for prompt shipments and low supply in the inland markets.
Prices at Rondonópolis softened to $680-$685/mt FOB ex-warehouse for December and January deliveries, falling from $690-$710/mt FOB reported in recent weeks. Players described a mostly stable market, citing low availability nationwide.
Argentina:
MAP imports to Argentina fell in January-October, Trade Data Monitor reported, to 635,000 mt from 749,000 mt one year earlier. Imports were 74,000 mt in October, about half of the October 2022 total of 144,000 mt. China supplied 70% of the October tonnage, sending 52,000 mt.