U.S. Gulf: While many sources last week were not really thinking much about potash, others were. Sources said a rush of large quantity buying occurred around July 20, give or take a day or two. Large river buyers reportedly jumped into the market to pull product for $450-$460/st FOB for August/September. This is down from the approximate $465-$475/st FOB range that has generally been discussed for the last few months.
The price drop came at a time when North American producers had been hoping to boost prices some $20/st. Instead, at least on the barge market, they went down by that amount. ICL was tabbed as supporting these lower numbers, as well as one North American producer.
Muriate of potash imports were off 37 percent in May, to 803,539 st from the year-ago 1.27 million mt. July-May imports were off 27 percent, to 8.34 million mt from 11.35 million st.
Eastern Cornbelt: Potash continued to be quoted in the $500-$510/st range FOB regional warehouses. One source said he booked some fall fill before the July 20 pricing increase at $505/st rail-DEL. Granular potash postings from PCS Sales firmed $20/st on July 21, moving to $530/st FOB warehouses in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Source said the new levels were untested, however.
Western Cornbelt: Potash continued to be quoted in the $500-$510/st FOB range in the Western Cornbelt region. Although a $20/st increase on July 21 from some producers pushed reference prices up to the $530/st FOB mark, sources reported no new business to test that level.
California: Sources tagged the potash market at $570-$582/st FOB and $590-$600/st DEL in California. The delivered range was up from last report based on new postings that reportedly took effect July 21, but sources reported no new sales to test the higher reference prices.
Sulfate of potash (SOP) was unchanged at $695-$705/st FOB in California, and potassium nitrate remained at $1,020/st FOB for bulk tons and $1,090/st FOB for bags.
Pacific Northwest: Agrium’s potash postings moved on July 1 to $530/st FOB and $540/st rail-DEL in Southern Idaho, Utah, and Oregon’s Malheur County; $535/st FOB and $545/st rail-DEL in Washington, the Idaho panhandle, and Oregon excluding Malheur County and the Willamette Valley; and $540/st FOB and $550/st rail-DEL in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
Western Canada: The potash market to Canadian customers FOB Saskatchewan mines remained in the $530-$540/mt FOB range. Out of regional warehouses in Western Canada, the dealer market was quoted at $545-$561/mt FOB, depending on grade and location.
Brazil: While major sellers are seeking $550/mt DEL for granular, up from the earlier $520/mt DEL, both Mosaic and PotashCorp have told analysts that prices have not quite made the entire jump. They are hopeful it will as demand in Brazil continues to ramp up this fall.