U.S. Gulf: Prompt granular urea barge prices continued to erode last week. Most said early week trades were as high as $540/st FOB for barges that were loaded and starting to move. However, for barges that were actually starting to load, the number dropped to $500-$505/st FOB.
By week’s end, there was one report that a trade may have occurred as low as $460/st FOB for a June barge, with others on the table for $430-$450/st FOB.
Eastern Cornbelt: With NOLA barge values falling steady, terminals prices for urea in the Eastern Cornbelt region were also plunging. The granular urea market had reportedly fallen to $610-$630/st FOB regional terminals, down significantly from the previous week.
Western Cornbelt: Granular urea pricing in the Western Cornbelt was in a freefall in early June. Sources quoted the low end at midweek at the $575-$580/st level out of the St. Louis, Mo., market. Elsewhere in Missouri and Iowa, most pegged the dealer market in the $600-$610/st FOB range for available tons, although some locations were still referenced as high as $630-$640/st FOB. In Minnesota, the Twin Cities market had reportedly fallen to $630/st FOB as of midweek.
Southern Missouri sources said the first application of urea on rice was also finished, and some fertilizer movement was underway on cotton. Missouri sources said growers would plant a sizable amount of double crop soybeans behind the wheat harvest if the state gets rainfall in the coming weeks.
Southern Plains: Urea pricing in the Southern Plains was reportedly “dropping by the day, if not by the phone call,” according to one source, and the result was a broad range.
Early in the week, sources quoted the Inola/Catoosa urea market in Oklahoma in the $590-$600/st FOB range, with supplies described as relatively tight. By midweek, there were reports of offers in the $575-$585/st FOB range, and by Thursday one source said he was offered tons for as low as $545/st FOB at the port. “We’ve sold more tons back to resellers in the past week than we’ve sold to farmers,” said one contact.
South Central: Urea movement on rice was in a lull between the first and second applications in most areas of the South Central region, and urea pricing out of regional terminals was sliding fast in the wake of the continually plunging NOLA barge market.
Earlier in the week sources quoted urea at $640-$645/st FOB most regional terminals, but several said lower numbers were likely as the week progressed. Out of the St Louis, Mo., market some suppliers were reportedly offering limited tons for as low as $575-$580/st FOB last week.
Southeast: Granular urea pricing in the Southeast continued to slide. The dealer market was quoted at $660-$670/st FOB port terminals in the region, with supplies described as tight.
Black Sea: Traders now argue that the urea price has dipped into the $440s/mt FOB. Producers say the price is closer to $460/mt FOB.
For now the only recent sales on the books back up the producers’ claims. Sources report Transammonia settled a sale at $468/mt FOB in the last week of May. Another deal a bit later by Koch came in at $462/mt FOB. Deals out of the Baltic are reported at $455/mt FOB.
The trend is down, say sources. Even demand from Brazil and other South American buyers is not enough to move up the Black Sea or Baltic price.
The industry is waiting for India to step back in and provide a floor to the market.
Middle East: The Arab producers continue to cling to prices in the low $500s/mt FOB as the starting point for any talks.
Traders note, however, that sales to South America are moving with netbacks estimated at $440-$445