U.S. Gulf/Tampa: It took some time, but major players finally reached an agreement on May ammonia for Tampa. Yara and Mosaic concluded May business at $545/mt CFR, up from April’s $470/mt.
While the price was up some $75/mt from last month, it was still a little less than recent business by Transammonia to PotashCorp for Geismar, which sources say would have topped the $550/mt CFR mark.
Eastern Cornbelt: Anhydrous ammonia remained at $740-$750/st FOB regional terminals, with the low reported in the Illinois market and the upper end out of Indiana shipping points.
Unseasonably warm weather was conducive to a rapid planting pace, and growers were moving quickly on corn and soybean planting in the Eastern Cornbelt. As of April 29, fully 70-79 percent of the corn crop was planted in Indiana and Illinois, well ahead of the five-year averages of 20-29 percent for those two states. Ohio corn growers were also trending well ahead of normal, with 57 percent of the corn in the ground by the end of April.
Soybean planting had progressed to 28 percent complete in Indiana by April 29, compared with 13-16 percent in Illinois and Ohio. The five-year average for those three states was 2-5 percent.
Western Cornbelt: Anhydrous ammonia remained in a broad range at $650-$720/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, with the low reported in the Nebraska market.
Iowa growers had 50 percent of the corn crop planted by April 29, compared with 44 percent in Nebraska. Both states were ahead of the five-year average pace. Soybean planting was rated at 8 percent complete in Missouri, 6 percent in Nebraska, and 3 percent in Iowa by April 29, while Missouri growers had managed to seed fully 92 percent of the rice crop and 33 percent of the cotton by that date.
California: The anhydrous ammonia market in California remained at $655/st truck-DEL, with reports that demand was brisk in late April and early May. Movement on rice was finally kicking into gear after earlier rain delays. “Demand has final gone up to normal spring levels now that the rain has quit and the temperatures are near 80,” said one source. Aqua ammonia pricing was unchanged as well at $178/st FOB in California.
Pacific Northwest: The anhydrous ammonia market in the Pacific Northwest had reportedly moved up some $100/st from last report, to $760-$790/st DEL in the region, depending on location. Reference prices for ammonia were reported in the $790-$820/st DEL range in early May.
Western Canada: Anhydrous ammonia pricing in the region had firmed more than $200/mt since last report. Sources quoted the dealer market at $1,209-1,218/mt DEL in Manitoba, $1,218-$1,227/mt DEL in Saskatchewan, and $1,227-$1,253/mt DEL in Alberta.
Black Sea: The jump in the Tampa price was seen by Asian sources as an attempt to catch up with the Yuzhnyy price.
Sources say there has been no new business to indicate that the CIS producers will now try to move up their price after seeing the strength in the Tampa market.
Middle East: Arab producers continue to claim they are sold out and very comfortable.
A recent deal by Mitsui moved the regional price up to $510/mt FOB. Sources point out, however, that the cargo was for only 6,000 mt and could be seen as a one-off deal.
One Asian trader, however, noted that any public deal coming out of the Arab Gulf will have an impact on future sales. The new price could see a direct impact on India once it starts buying more ammonia. Many of the public sales to India are about 7,000 mt.
Sources say the ammonia purchases are still at least a few weeks off. A steady flow of ammonia to India is not expected until that c