U.S. Gulf/Tampa: New NOLA barge business was concluded last week at $600/st FOB, in line with the last done business. Sources said this may be an indication that Tampa business for May might just roll over as well.
Natural gas prices continued to move up last week, with the May price settling at $4.401/mmBtu on April 18. However, with $600/st FOB NOLA ammonia and product in the Cornbelts at over $700/st FOB, ammonia producers do not appear too worried.
Eastern Cornbelt: Torrential rains caused rivers to flood throughout northern Illinois on April 17-18, and a powerful storm was expected to bring more heavy rains to the rest of the state late in the week.
Local reports said 24-hour precipitation totals ranged from 4 to nearly 8 inches across northern Illinois at midweek, prompting flash flood warnings for the entire Chicago area. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn declared a start of emergency for Illinois on Thursday as major flooding was reported on parts of the Des Plaines, Fox, Illinois, and DuPage rivers.
A strong storm system was expected to bring more torrential rains and damaging winds to the rest of the state late on April 18, and parts of Indiana and Kentucky were also facing a risk of severe thunderstorms late on April 18.
All that moisture did little to help growers get a foot in the door on the spring planting season. Several sources said fertilizer movement had “slowed to a crawl” in the region because of the rains, and the planting scheduled was pushed further behind.
As of April 14, only 1 percent of the corn crop in Illinois and Ohio had been planted, while corn growers in Indiana had yet to make a blip on the screen. Those figures trailed last year’s accelerated pace significantly, but also were behind the five-year average for the region.
Sources reported no changes to the spot fertilizer markets last week. Anhydrous ammonia pricing remained in the $780-$800/st FOB range out of regional terminals, with the low in Illinois and the upper numbers in Indiana and Ohio.
Western Cornbelt: Stormy weather once again pounded the Western Cornbelt region in mid-April, further delaying spring planting and causing flooding in parts of Iowa and Missouri.
A powerful storm dropped nearly 8 inches of rain in parts of eastern Iowa and up to four inches of wet snow in the northwestern corner of the state. Flash flood warnings were in effect on April 18 for much of southern and eastern Iowa, and local reports confirmed that several state and federal highways were closed at midweek due to flooding.
The spring storm also resulted in the closure of parts of Interstate 80 in western Nebraska at midweek due to heavy snow and rain, and more moisture was expected overnight on April 18-19.
Missouri was also in the storm’s path, with more than 4 inches of rain reported in north-central areas of the state last week. Hail and damaging winds were also in the mix for Missouri, prompting a midweek tornado watch for 71 counties and a thunderstorm watch for 32 counties. The St. Louis area collected 2-4 inches of rain at midweek, and flood watches and warnings were in effect for most of the state except southeast Missouri on April 17-18.
USDA reported on April 14 that no corn had officially been planted yet in Iowa and Nebraska, while Missouri growers had just 8 percent of the crop in the ground by that date, well behind the five-year average of 17 percent. Last year at this time, Missouri growers had fully 37 percent of the corn crop already planted.
Sources reported no change to spot fertilizer prices, and little new buying activity to test the markets.
The regional ammonia market remained at $720/st FOB in Nebraska, $740/st FOB in western Iowa, and up to $760/st FOB in eastern Iowa and Missouri. Delivered ammonia was in the $760-$770