All posts by hlancey@bloomberg.net

Russia Amends P and K Extraction Rents

News Briefs, Phosphate, Russia

Amendments were submitted to the Russian Legislature (State Duma) for the establishment of a rental coefficient as of Jan. 1, 2025, for the extraction of potassium salts in the amount of 8.8, and an increase in the rental coefficient for the extraction of apatite-nepheline, apatite, and phosphorite ores from 7 to 15.5, Interfax reported.

This marks an increase from the initial proposal of a potassium salt coefficient of 8.1 and an apatite/phosphorite coefficient of 14. The rent increases would generate additional budget revenue 10.3 billion rubles for potassium salts and 14.3 billion rubles for apatite/phosphorite per year, or approximately $112 million and $157 million, respectively.

American Vanguard Corp. – Management Brief

Management Briefs

American Vanguard Corp. announced that Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Bob Trogele retired on May 31 after 35 years in the agrochemical industry. Trogele joined the company’s principal operating subsidiary, AMVAC, in January 2015 to focus on growing the business across multiple product lines and geographies, achieving greater profitability, and establishing a pipeline of future opportunities through innovation and strategic relationships.

“Bob’s tenure at AMVAC has been marked by remarkable achievements and steadfast dedication,” said Chairman and CEO Eric G. Wintemute. “During his time at the company, AMVAC expanded its international product and distribution presence, completed 22 acquisitions, launched its Green Solutions portfolio of biologicals, and expanded the SIMPAS® application system to include SIMPAS-applied Solutions™ and ULTIMUS® technology.”

Trogele plans to remain involved in global agribusiness as an independent board director, investor, and entrepreneur.

Marsulex Environmental Technologies (MET) – Management Brief

Management Briefs, Southeast Asia

Marsulex Environmental Technologies (MET) announced the appointment of Anilkumar C Mukundan as its new President, Sales. The company said he brings more than 30 years of experience in handling industrial products and solutions and will be responsible for continuing MET’s business in India and Southeast Asia with Particulate Matter upgrade projects, as well as growing global opportunities in DeSox.

ATOME Announces Completion of Viletta FEED

Calcium Ammonium Nitrate, Clean Ammonia, Low-Carbon, Switzerland

ATOME on June 5 announced the completion of its front-end engineering design (FEED) for the 145 MW green fertilizer plant located in Villeta, Paraguay (GM Jan. 19, p. 25). The FEED study was performed by Spanish engineering firm, Urbas Energy, in cooperation with Casale, the Swiss-based OEM and licensor for ammonia and fertilizer technologies.

“Completion of this complex and detailed FEED study, which we believe is the first for an industrial scale, fully green, fertilizer facility, provides the necessary foundational engineering not only for our first Villeta Project, but for ATOME to apply elsewhere, consolidating our position as an international leader in green fertilizer production,” said CEO Olivier Mussat. “Our immediate attention now turns to offtake and EPC, both of which will allow us to move towards the delivery of FID this year.”

ATOME intends to appoint principal EPC contractors by the end of June 2024 with the definitive contract expected to be signed at the time of FID anticipated later this year. Paraguay granted the project Free-Trade Zone status in November, providing major tax exemptions (GM Nov. 17, 2023).

The plant’s planned production capacity is 264,000 mt/y of green calcium ammonium nitrate, which has the potential to displace up to an estimated 15 million mt of CO2 over the life of the project. Construction is on track to start by the end of 2024 and the project aims to deliver its first low-carbon fertilizer in 2027.

Advario, Fluxys Join on Low-Carbon NH3 terminal

Ammonia, Clean Ammonia, Europe, Hydrogen, Low-Carbon, The Netherlands

Advario, a Netherlands-based tank storage and infrastructure solutions provider for chemicals, gases, and energy, and Belgium infrastructure group Fluxys announced that they plan to build a new low-carbon ammonia import terminal on the site of the Advario Gas Terminal (AGT) in Antwerp, leveraging the port’s position as Europe’s largest petrochemical hub.

The terminal is in alignment with Europe’s hydrogen strategy and the REPowerEU plan, which aims for 20 million mt/y of green hydrogen consumption by 2030, with ammonia imports covering 20%. The companies said the new terminal represents a significant step in meeting the growing demand for sustainable energy sources in Belgium and the wider Benelux region.

“The joint initiative of Advario and Fluxys, developing an innovative import terminal for low-carbon-ammonia infrastructure, fits perfectly with our ambition and supports our objective to be a key hub for importing and exporting essential molecules for a carbon-neutral economy,” said Jan Jambon, Minister-President of Flanders.

The two project partners also launched an Expression of Interest (EOI) scheme to engage prospective partners with the aim of allocating capacities in the terminal and the associated ecosystem, such as the ammonia pipeline. Fluxys is active in gas transmission, storage, and liquefied natural gas terminalling.

Partners Plan Ammonia Bunkering Vessel Project

Ammonia, Clean Ammonia, Europe, Finland, Green Ammonia, Low-Carbon

Finnish marine manufacturer Wärtsilä has joined with Italian company Gas and Heat and RINA to develop an ammonia-fueled bunkering vessel that will deliver and operate on green ammonia fuel in a step that advances the maritime industry’s shift to sustainable fuels.

With the agreement, Gas and Heat will develop the design of the cargo handling system while Wärtsilä will design the integrated propulsion solution including its recently introduced 4-stroke engine for ammonia fuel, called the Wärtsilä 25 ammonia engine. RINA will complete a compliance assessment of the design as part of the Approval in Principle process.

The collaboration aims to create a groundbreaking vessel that will operate on green ammonia and will align with the environmental goals of the International Maritime Organization and European Union, while playing a crucial part in the supply chain for green ammonia.

Korean Shipbuilder Launches New Scrubber Tech

Ammonia, Clean Ammonia, Europe, Low-Carbon

During the International Tech Forum in Athens, Greece, on May 31, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HDKSOE) unveiled its new eco-friendly scrubber technology to be used on ammonia-fueled vessels.

The scrubber uses a proprietary, eco-friendly design and can reduce toxic emissions levels to zero. Toxicity is a key concern for the developing marine market using low-carbon ammonia as a fuel, as ammonia poses a toxic-by-inhalation risk.

HDKSOE also introduced its new AI ship management system and remote drone system on the same day. These technologies are expected to enable real-time detection of minor ammonia leaks, preventing potential accidents.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, an intermediate holding company for HDKSOE, announced on March 18 that it had secured orders for three large ammonia carriers with a contract valued at $372 million. HDKSOE has secured orders to construct 72 vessels totaling $8.75 billion so far in 2024 (GM March 22, p. 27).

Ammonia

Ammonia, Eastern Cornbelt, Market Watch, Northwestern Europe, South Central, Southeast Asia, Southern Plains, Tampa, Turkey, U.S. Gulf, Western Cornbelt

US Gulf/Tampa:

The $50/mt drop in Tampa ammonia for June, to $400/mt CFR from May’s $450/mt CFR, pushed truck prices out of Gulf Coast terminals down to a low of $370/st FOB, below the prior $400-$410/st FOB range.

Eastern Cornbelt:

Ammonia terminal prices continued to drop, with reports of truck offers falling to the $550/st FOB level in the Eastern Cornbelt in early June. The upper end of the regional market was quoted at $560-$570/st FOB, depending on location and supplier.

Western Cornbelt:

Ammonia prices moved lower again, falling to $550-$570/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, depending on location, down from last week’s $560-$580/st FOB.

Southern Plains:

Ammonia slipped to $510-$545/st FOB terminals in the Southern Plains, depending on location, with the low reported in Oklahoma and the high in Kansas. The latest truck pricing out of Gulf Coast production points dropped to the $370-$380/st FOB, down from May’s $400-$410/st FOB range.

South Central:

Prompt ammonia fell to $500/st FOB Cherokee, Ala. No truck offers were reported at El Dorado, Ark., or Midway, Tenn., in early June.

Northwest Europe:

With natural gas prices on the rise at $11/MMBtu and rising nitrates prices, there is some support for firming ammonia prices in Northwest Europe. Still, the lower Tampa settlement for June and prospects of increased Russian supply via the Taman port continue to weigh on buyers’ minds, resulting in a flat price of $460-$470/mt CFR.

Southeast Asia:

The ammonia market in Southeast Asia firmed to $350-$400/mt FOB. While no fresh spot business could be confirmed in the region this week, netbacks on contract deliveries were heard higher at around $350/mt FOB.

Turkey:         

January-April ammonia imports to Turkey totaled 332,000 mt, Trade Data Monitor reported, a 22% increase from the year-ago 272,000 mt. Algeria sent 120,000 mt, Oman followed with 81,000 mt, and Trinidad and Tobago shipped 69,000 mt. April imports were 101,000 mt, up 38% from 73,000 mt in April 2023.

Urea

Black Sea, Brazil, China, Eastern Cornbelt, ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Market Watch, Mediterranean, Middle East, South Central, Southeast, Southeast Asia, Southern Plains, U.S. Gulf, Urea, Western Cornbelt

US Gulf:

NOLA urea business during the week was reported at $290-$302/st FOB for prompt loaded barges, $290-$295/st FOB for June, and $290-$300/st FOB for July. Those levels were up from last week’s $284-$291/st FOB range, fueled by firming international prices in the wake of production curtailments in Egypt.

Eastern Cornbelt:

Urea inched up to $365-$380/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, up $5/st from last week on slightly stronger NOLA barge pricing. The low was confirmed on the Ohio River, while Illinois River terminals bumped up to a low of $370/st FOB for June-July tons. The Cincinnati, Ohio, market remained at $365-$375/st FOB in early June.

Western Cornbelt:

Urea in the Western Cornbelt fell to $345-$375/st FOB in early June, down slightly from last week, with the high confirmed in Iowa on a spot basis. The St. Louis, Mo., urea market slipped to $345-$350/st FOB, down from $350-$360/st FOB, while the latest offers at Caruthersville, Mo., were reported at the $355/st FOB level.

Southern Plains:

Urea prices fell to $360-$385/st FOB in the Southern Plains, down $10-$15/st from last report, The Catoosa/Inola, Okla., market was pegged at the $360-$365/st FOB level for prompt tons, down from $375-$380/st FOB last week.

South Central:

Urea was quoted at $335-$370/st FOB terminals in the South Central region, with the low reported at Convent, La., and the high out of river terminals in Arkansas. The Memphis, Tenn., urea market was pegged at the $350-$365/st FOB level during the week.

Southeast:

Urea pricing in the Southeast dropped to $375-$380/st FOB port terminals in early June, down from $390-$400/st FOB, with the low confirmed at Wilmington, N.C.

India: 

Sources expect a new urea tender to be issued before the end of June. In a departure from previous tenders, however, buyers will most likely take just enough product to maintain India’s already high reserves of urea. Additional tenders will probably be called as well, also with buyers taking less than 1 million mt.

June reserves were reported at a near-record 11 million mt. The high inventories, combined with pressure to increase domestic production, would allow the country to buy fewer foreign tons through the remainder of the year. The continued promotion of India’s domestically-produced Nano Urea could also reduce demand for imported product, sources said.

Black Sea:     

Black Sea prilled urea moved up in line with other major urea-producing markets, to $265-$270/mt FOB.

Turkey’s Gübretaş is reportedly in the market for 20,000 mt of granular urea. Turkey’s import numbers, as reported by Trade Data Monitor, have shown a steady dependency on Oman and Egypt for granular product.

Turkey imported approximately 1.3 million mt of urea in January-April, statistically unchanged from January-April 2023. Oman led suppliers with 722,000 mt for 56% of the imports, followed by 396,000 mt from Egypt. April imports stood at 226,000 mt, a 48% decline from the 434,000 mt received in April 2023.

Mediterranean:

Some urea buyers in the Mediterranean region were heard rejecting offers of $350/mt CFR, with French buyers reportedly willing to step in at lower levels of $330-$340/mt CFR. Italian buyers are not looking at offshore tons for restocking, as wet weather has resulted in some delays. Granular urea in the Mediterranean strengthened this week to $330-$350/mt CFR.

It remains unclear whether the market will be swayed by news of further gas curtailments in Egypt, with multiple producers shut down at the start of the week but reports of gas supply resuming later in the week.

Southeast Asia:

No further granular urea business was reported in Southeast Asia this week, but the producer in Brunei was heard offering $320/mt FOB, pushing the regional market up to $312-$320/mt FOB. Petronas in Malaysia resumed operations at its Gurun and Bintulu plants, which had been in turnaround in May.

Indonesia:     

Pupuk has reportedly sold another cargo through its $312/mt FOB May granular urea tender, lifting total sales to 280,000 mt.

The company appears to have oversold its product, however. While the initial tender called for loading in June, some of the shipments will take place in July, sources said, with about half of the tonnage sold expected to go to Australia.

Because of the delayed shipping dates, sources now estimate that Pupuk will not call another granular selling tender until late July. Pupuk will most likely also wait to call another granular tender until vessels have been fixed for all of the material awarded in its most recent tender, one source added.

A prilled urea tender closed this week, with Samsung winning the 8,000 mt award at $323/mt FOB. The award translates to an estimate granular price of $328-$333/mt FOB, though granular prices are expected to push even higher once a new tender is called.

Middle East: 

Sources reported a granular sale out of Saudi Arabia at $330/mt FOB. The transaction represents a $15/mt increase from the most recent spot deal, and tracks about $10/mt above where traders had previously called the market. The price increase reportedly came on the heels of Egypt’s curtailed production due to natural gas cutbacks.

Following the transaction, July offers firmed to $335/mt FOB for granular urea and into the mid-$320s/mt FOB for prilled.

Prices in Egypt moved up dramatically on the heels of the government-imposed cutback in natural gas supplies. The week kicked off with small-lot sales in the upper-$330s/mt FOB, and sales were reported up to $350/mt FOB by June 7.

Prices moved up $10/mt at the week’s outset, to $335-$340/mt FOB, on small-lot sales from Kima and NCIC, after which offers immediately firmed to $340-$345/mt FOB. Kima then closed a 5,000 mt sale at $350/mt FOB on June 7, followed by a 10,000 mt deal from NCIC at the same price.

The government-imposed cut to natural gas supplied to urea producers, announced late last month, led to price increases from Egypt to the Arab Gulf. The government announced that plants would begin receiving their normal allotment of natural gas beginning on June 6. Some producers late in the week acknowledged receiving notices that the gas restrictions had been lifted, but had not yet received confirmation that the gas was on its way to them.

The restriction on gas supplies initially triggered production cutbacks that failed to impact either prices or exports, and producers have experienced similar reductions in gas supplies in the past. While the urea sales made in late May could have easily been covered by producers’ existing inventories, sources reported a subsequent uptick in demand. At the same time, some producers did more than simply reduce production.

MOPCO initially closed one granular line for a weeklong maintenance shutdown. By early this week, however, the company’s other granular line and a prilled urea line were halted as well. Alexfert, Kima, NCIC, and Abu Qir also shut their production operations rather than reduce output. The unexpected loss of supply has helped push prices higher, players said.

China:                                                                                                                   

Permission to export urea from China continues to be denied. Sources now expect the first cargoes to be released sometime in late July.

The government remains concerned that prices are too high. Based on the current domestic price, export values have risen to an estimated $340-$345/mt FOB for prilled urea and $348-$350/mt FOB for granular, representing a $5-$10/mt increase. Conversely, the government wants to see prices fall by at least $20/mt, sources said.

In recent years, prices in the Arab Gulf and China have typically maintained a $0-$5/mt spread. Chinese product is currently valued significantly above the most recent Arab Gulf price of $330/mt FOB, however. Prices from China are also considerably higher than those reported out of Indonesia.

The government’s export restrictions were designed to build large reserves in the domestic market, forcing prices down and placating growers. After the government gave up subsidy plans for Chinese farmers, these export controls are the only remaining mechanism the central government has at its disposal to impact prices, one trader argued.

Producers have been required to reduce production to 60% of rated capacity, one trader said. If factories were to increase output to even 80% of nameplate value, said the trader, local reserves would build and the price would move in a direction more to the government’s liking.

Ethiopia:                                                                                                               

January-May urea imports firmed 49% year-over-year, Trade Data Monitor reported, to 298,000 mt from 200,000 mt, with 203,000 mt from Egypt accounting for 68% of the import market. May imports of 22,000 mt were off 57% from the 50,000 mt received in May 2023, with all of the tonnage loading from Oman.

Brazil:

The Brazil granular urea market firmed to $340-$350/mt CFR during the week, a $15-$20/mt increase from the prior $325-$330/mt CFR and up 14% in the last four weeks, with the latest offers reported as high as $365/mt CFR. The firmer values followed news of reduced urea production in Egypt and higher nitrogen prices out of Europe.

Rondonópolis pricing held steady at $465-$485/mt FOB. With several players describing a volatile market, new offers were quoted up to $490/mt FOB.

Correction:

In the May 10 edition of Green Markets, US urea imports for March 2024 and July 2023-March 2024 were incorrectly reported at 64,837 st and 640,122 st, respectively. The correct totals are 689,429 st for March and 3.47 million st for July-March, up 11% and 7.4%, respectively, from 618,880 st in March 2023 and 3.23 million st in July 2022-March 2023.

UAN

Eastern Cornbelt, France, Market Watch, South Central, Southeast, Southern Plains, U.S. Gulf, UAN, Western Cornbelt

US Gulf:

Though no new NOLA UAN business was reported during the week, sources quoted the barge market at $225-$235/st ($7.03-$7.34/unit) FOB based on netbacks from upriver terminal pricing, down from the prior week’s $235-$245/st ($7.34-$7.66/unit) FOB range.

Eastern Cornbelt:

The UAN-32 market continued at $260-$275/st ($8.13-$8.59/unit) FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, with the low at Cincinnati and the high on the Illinois River during the week. The Mount Vernon, Ind., market continued to be quoted at $270/st ($8.44/unit) FOB. The latest UAN-28 offers at Cincinnati were reported at the $231.88/st ($8.28/unit) FOB level.

Western Cornbelt:

UAN-32 was unchanged at $270-$290/st ($8.44-$9.06/unit) FOB for prompt tons in the Western Cornbelt, depending on location, with the low confirmed at St. Louis and Caruthersville and the high in Iowa on a spot basis. Sources pegged the Dubuque, Iowa, market at the $275/st ($8.59/unit) FOB level during the week.

Southern Plains:

The UAN-32 market in the Southern Plains was pegged at $255-$280/st ($7.97-$8.75/unit) FOB in early June, down from the prior $275-$310/st ($8.59-$9.69/unit) FOB range, with the low reported at Woodward and Verdigris, Okla.

South Central:

UAN-32 was quoted at $270-$285/st ($8.44-$8.91/unit) FOB in the South Central region for prompt tons, with the low reported in Kentucky and Arkansas.

Southeast:

UAN-32 in the Southeast slipped to $275-$285/st ($8.59-$8.91/unit) FOB regional terminals, with the low confirmed in Georgia. Port terminal offers were generally reported at the $280/st ($8.75/unit) level FOB Wilmington and Norfolk, Va. Sources reported some delay in sidedress applications due to wet weather in early June.

France:

UAN prices at Rouen continued their bullish march this week, with highs reaching €265/mt FCA for the latest offers. With no confirmed sales, however, the UAN Rouen price this week was quoted at €245-$265/mt FCA based on the spread between bids and offers. Sources said the French market is about 35-40% covered for UAN for the new season.