California:
The 16-20-0 market was unchanged at $715/st FOB in California.
Pacific Northwest:
16-20-0 remained at $705/st FOB or DEL in the Pacific Northwest in early September.
All posts by mickeybarb@charter.net
Phosphoric Acid
Eastern Cornbelt:
September phos acid postings in the Eastern Cornbelt remained at $14.00/unit rail-DEL, unchanged from August.
Western Cornbelt:
Phos acid prices were steady at $14.00/unit rail-DEL in the Western Cornbelt for September tons.
California:
September pricing for phos acid was quoted at $13.50-$14.00/unit rail-DEL in California, unchanged from August, with MGA referenced at $14.20/unit FOB Lathrop.
Pacific Northwest:
Thephos acid market remained $13.50/unit FOB Pocatello, Idaho, and $13.50-$14.00/unit rail-DEL for September tons in the Pacific Northwest, depending on supplier.
India:
India phosphoric acid contracts were reported at $1,715/mt P2O5 CFR for the second and third quarters. Contracts for the first quarter stood at $1,530/mt P2O5 CFR, a $185/mt difference.
Ammonium Polyphosphate
Eastern Cornbelt:
10-34-0 pricing was steady at $665-$675/st FOB for the last confirmed offers in the Eastern Cornbelt.
Western Cornbelt:
10-34-0 remained at the $665/st FOB level in the Western Cornbelt.
California:
The 10-34-0 market firmed to $691-$696/st FOB in September, up $13/st from last report. 11-37-0 pricing was also up at $753/st FOB El Centro, reflecting a $10/st increase.
Pacific Northwest:
10-34-0 pricing was steady at $675/st FOB Hedges, Wash., while 11-37-0 postings remained at $725/st FOB Hedges and $705/st DEL in Idaho.
Western Canada:
10-34-0 pricing in Western Canada remained at C$935-$950/mt DEL for the last reported offers.
Muriate of Potash
US Gulf:
Most sources put the latest NOLA potash barge trades at $625/st FOB, though there were unconfirmed reports of $610-$615/st FOB.
Eastern Cornbelt:
The potash market was quoted at $705-$735/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, with the Cincinnati price reported at $705-$710/st FOB and reflecting a drop of $10/st from the previous week.
Western Cornbelt:
Potash was unchanged at $710-$735/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, depending on location, with the St. Louis market pegged at $710-$720/st FOB in early September.
California:
Potash pricing in California was pegged at $875/st FOB for 60% MOP and $895/st FOB for 62%.
Pacific Northwest:
Potash was unchanged at $845-$865/st FOB in the Pacific Northwest, with the low for 60% and the high for 62% MOP. The last reference prices from Intrepid FOB Moab and Wendover, Utah, included $850/st for 60% white standard and $855/st for 60% white granular.
Western Canada:
Sources quoted potash pricing at C$990-$1,050/mt FOB Saskatchewan mines for truck tons, depending on grade and supplier.
Indonesia:
There are unconfirmed reports that PT Petrokimia Gresik has bought 55,000 mt of Belarusian standard potash under a tender at around the $800/mt CFR level for shipment in September-October.
Brazil:
Potash buyers in Brazil keep looking at an oversupply situation and keep working to push down prices. The market is now reported at $750-$800/mt CFR, about $50/mt down from the previous week.
Rondonopolis softened at the low end of the range to $860-$900/mt FOB ex-warehouse. The oversupply of MOP is just as acute with the local distributors as it is at the port warehouses, said sources.
Imports of MOP for January-August 2022 were reported at 9.4 million mt by Trade Data Monitor, up 21% from the 7.8 million mt imported during the same period in 2021. The main supplier was Canada with 3.5 million mt, followed by Russia with 2.5 million mt, and Belarus with 963,000 mt.
August 2022 imports were reported at 985,000 mt, down from the 1.5 million mt imported during August 2021. Canada accounted for about half of the August 2022 imports with 656,000 mt. Russia sent 404,000 mt for 19% of the import market. Germany with 153,000 mt followed for 16% of the imports, and Israel sent 117,000 mt for 12% of the import market.
Correction:
The Southeast Asia standard potash CFR price for the issue dated Sept. 2, 2022, should have read $810-$900/mt instead of $850-$900/mt.
ADNOC Sends First Low-Carbon Ammonia Cargo to Germany
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) announced Sept. 1 that its first shipment of low-carbon ammonia left the United Arab Emirates (UAE) bound for Hamburg, Germany. This is the first ever cargo of low-carbon ammonia to be shipped to Germany.
The demonstration cargo will be delivered to Aurubis, a global provider of non-ferrous metals and one of the largest copper recyclers worldwide, which has its headquarters in Hamburg.
Produced by Fertiglobe, a partnership between ADNOC and OCI NV, at its Fertil plant in Abu Dhabi’s Ruwais Industrial Complex, the demonstration cargo is the first of several test cargoes sold to customers in Germany as ADNOC expands its strategic energy partnership across the hydrogen value chain.
The cargo follows a number of similar low-carbon ammonia sales that have been made to customers in Asia. Aurubis plans to utilize the low-carbon ammonia as a feedstock in its wire rod plant, testing its application as an additional, lower-carbon energy source for industrial utilization.
ADNOC said this is another important milestone in the planned scale-up of hydrogen and low-carbon ammonia production capabilities in Abu Dhabi, where it is developing a new world-scale 1 million mt/y low-carbon ammonia plant in the Ruwais Industrial Complex.
Sulfur
Tampa:
BP restarted the 255,000 barrel/d Pipestill 12 crude section at its Whiting, Ind., refinery on Sept. 5 after activity was seen ramping up on Sept. 1. Activity increases were also observed from the 70,000 barrel/d Pipestill 11A crude distillation unit (CDU) on Sept. 5, but remained shy of normal operational levels.
Third-quarter Tampa molten sulfur contracts were concluded at $352/lt CFR, off $129/lt from the prior period’s $481/lt CFR level.
US refining capacity softened for the week ending Sept. 2, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Combined nationwide capacity utilization was pegged at 90.9% for the period, a 1.8-point slide from the previous week’s 92.7% rate, but above both the year-ago 81.9% and the 87.3% five-year average.
Crude inputs fell to an average 15.929 million barrels/d for the period, down 309,000 barrels/d from the previous 16.238 million barrels/d rate.
US Gulf:
LyondellBasell Ind. on Sept. 2 shut a 95,500 barrel/d vacuum distillation unit (VDU) at the company’s Houston, Texas, refinery, Genscape reported. The unit was reported restarting on Sept. 1 following a planned three-week maintenance shutdown that began on Aug. 11.
An 88,000 barrel/d fluidic catalytic cracking unit (FCC) and an associated 12,000 barrel/d hydrotreater at the Motiva Port Arthur, Texas, refinery were successfully restarted on Sept. 2 after shutting down on Aug. 30 due to a leaking pipe.
Shell was noted restarting at 250,000 barrel/d CDU, a 78,000 barrel/d VDU, and a 21,000 barrel/d coking unit at its Norco, La., plant on the morning of Sept. 7. The CDU was reported shutting down on Sept. 3, followed by the coker on Sept. 6, due to an equipment failure and subsequent power outage.
Recent confirmed business on the US Gulf sulfur market continued to be heard in the $39-$56/mt FOB range, unmoved from the prior report. A $75/mt FOB cargo rumored trading during the week failed to find confirmation on Sept. 8.
Brazil:
Galvani Fertilizantes has scrapped its pending sulfur purchase tender without awards after receiving bids that the company believed were too high, sources said. Prices were believed to land in the neighborhood of $130/mt CFR, in line with recent values reported out of the China import market but above recent equivalent US Gulf export sales.
With no new business or firm indications reported, the Brazil market remained at the prior $90-$100/mt CFR level.
Vancouver:
Volatility in the China import market reportedly pushed Vancouver export values to the $85-$90/mt FOB range during the week, above the last reported $70-$75/mt FOB range.
Alberta:
Alberta sulfur netbacks were indicated in the $15-$282/mt FOB range, firming from $0-$282/mt FOB one week earlier.
West Coast:
West Coast price ideas followed Vancouver to the $85-$90/mt FOB range for the period, up from the prior week’s $70-$75/mt FOB. Third-quarter molten sulfur contracts were reported at $370-$385/lt FOB, below the second quarter’s $375-$390/lt.
China:
After reportedly achieving a fresh nearby high at $140/mt CFR at the start of the Sept. 2-8 trading period, sources reported China import values softening to the mid-$120s/mt CFR by Sept. 8, leaving the market in the $125-$140/mt CFR range for the week.
ADNOC:
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) sulfur offers were heard firming to $92/mt FOB Ruwais for September lifting. Offers were reported at $85/mt FOB for the prior month, a $7/mt difference.
Qatar:
Qatar sulfur offers were heard at $89/mt FOB Ras Laffan for September, a $12/mt increase from $77/mt in August.
Sulfuric Acid
US Gulf:
The worsening power crisis in Europe could impact a source of sulfuric acid to the US Gulf, Bloomberg reported, as a number of aluminum smelters make the choice to dial back production in the face of soaring energy costs.
With aluminum smelting requiring about 40 times the amount of energy of copper, European aluminum output was noted falling to the industry’s lowest levels since the 1970s in September. Numbers are projected to decline further as the year wears on.
Aluminium Dunkerque Industries France, Europe’s largest aluminum smelter at 290,000 mt/y, on Sept. 6 announced production cuts totaling 22%. The curtailment was expected to be completed by Oct. 1.
Later in the week, Speira GmbH announced a 50% production cut at its aluminum smelter in Germany, anticipated to be completed in November, while preparations were underway to curtail production at the 175,000 mt/y Norsk Hydro ASA smelter in Slovakia by the end of September.
Despite the production cuts, lower sulfur market prices were universally expected to drag Gulf import sulfuric acid values lower in the next round of business. While sources described a quiet market in advance of the upcoming bidding season, indications were floated in a wide $140-$200/mt CFR range, with most agreeing that prices would soften to at least the $160-$180/mt CFR level in the short term.
Gulf Coast:
Sulfuric acid delivered by rail to locations along the US Gulf Coast were reported in a wide $195-$280/st DEL range for the full 2022 contract year.
Midwest:
Midwest sulacid pricing for full-year contracts was quoted at parity to the Gulf Coast at $195-$280/st DEL.
West Coast:
Pricing for the 2022 contract year was noted at $185-$270/st DEL.
Brazil:
Brazil price ideas were heard in the $170-$190/mt CFR range, below $200-$210/mt CFR reported previously.
Ammonium Thiosulfate
Eastern Cornbelt:
Ammonium thiosulfate pricing was quoted at $400-$435/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, with the low confirmed at Cincinnati.
Western Cornbelt:
Ammonium thiosulfate remained at $400-$435/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt.
California:
The ammonium thiosulfate market remained at $530-$550/st FOB in California.
Pacific Northwest:
The last reported prices for ammonium thiosulfate were quoted at $435/st FOB in Washington, down $100/st from last report.
Western Canada:
Ammonium thiosulfate prices were confirmed at the C$530/mt DEL level for recent offers in Saskatchewan, up from C$495/mt DEL at last report.
Calcium Ammonium Nitrate
California:
CAN-17 pricing in California was unchanged $425-$460/st FOB in early September.
Pacific Northwest:
The CAN-17 market remained at $450/st FOB Kennewick.
AN-20
California:
AN-20 pricing was steady at $478/st DEL in the state.
Pacific Northwest:
AN-20 pricing in the Pacific Northwest was steady at $450/st FOB Kennewick in early September.