All posts by mickeybarb@charter.net

Phosphoric Acid

California, Eastern Cornbelt, India, Market Watch, Pacific N.W., Phosphoric Acid, Western Cornbelt

Eastern Cornbelt:

The phos acid market was steady at $13.95/unit rail-DEL in Illinois and $14.10/unit rail-DEL in Ohio for May tons.

Western Cornbelt:

Phos acid pricing was unchanged at $13.85/unit rail-DEL in Nebraska, Missouri, and Iowa for May shipment.

California:

The phos acid market remained at $14.00/unit rail-DEL in California for May shipments, with MGA referenced at the $14.20/unit level FOB Lathrop and El Centro.

Pacific Northwest:

May phosphoric acid prices were unchanged from April at $13.50/unit FOB Pocatello, Idaho, with rail-DEL offers ranging from $14.00-$14.15/unit in the Pacific Northwest, depending on supplier.

India:

Phosphoric acid delivered to India was contracted at $998/mt P2O5 CFR for second-quarter delivery, a $203/mt increase from $795/mt CFR in the first quarter.

Sources said talks are just getting underway for the third-quarter price. Traders said the talks will most likely result in prices well about the $1,000/mt CFR mark.

Ammonium Polyphosphate

Ammonium Polyphosphate, California, Eastern Cornbelt, Market Watch, Pacific N.W., Western Canada, Western Cornbelt

Eastern Cornbelt:

10-34-0 was reported at $580-$600/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, with the low confirmed at Cincinnati.

Western Cornbelt:

The 10-34-0 market remained at $575-$595/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, depending on location.

California:

The10-34-0 market was steady at $611-$617/st FOB in California, with the 11-37-0 market pegged at $680-$685/st FOB for May tons.

Pacific Northwest:

The 10-34-0 market in the Pacific Northwest remained at $605-$610/st FOB, with 11-37-0 pricing reported in the $665-$670/st FOB range in the region.

Western Canada:

10-34-0 remained at a firm C$850/mt DEL in Western Canada in mid-May.

Muriate of Potash

Bangladesh, Brazil, California, Eastern Cornbelt, India, Market Watch, Northeast, Pacific N.W., Potash Muriate, South Korea, U.S. Gulf, Western Canada, Western Cornbelt

U.S. Gulf:

NOLA potash barges continued to firm. Players are now calling the most recent trades within the $330-$345/st FOB range for May-June tons, with $350/st FOB being quoted for the next round of business. Domestic producers are posted as high as $365/st FOB.

Eastern Cornbelt:

Potash was pegged at $375-$400/st FOB in the region, with the low confirmed out of river terminals in Illinois for May-June tons and the high out of inland warehouses. Reference prices from Canadian producers are now at $395-$400/st FOB for Q4 shipments, with order books fully committed through September.

Western Cornbelt:

Sources quoted potash pricing at $375-$400/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, depending on location and time of shipment, with the low confirmed at St. Louis, Camanche, and Caruthersville for prompt tons. Sources reported prompt offers at the $380/st level FOB St. Paul during the week.

Northeast:

Potash prices in the Northeast edged up to $390/st FOB Fairless Hills, Pa., on May 17, up $10/st from the previous posted level.

California:

The potash market in California was unchanged at $505/st FOB for 60 percent MOP and $515/st FOB for 62 percent.

Pacific Northwest:

Potash pricing was quoted at $460-$470/st FOB and $470-$480/st DEL in the Pacific Northwest, up some $20-$30/st from last report, depending on grade and location. Sources said a significant amount of fill tons were booked earlier in the month at the $442/st DEL level for shipment by the third quarter, but new offers are now up $30/st.

Potash postings from Intrepid FOB Moab and Wendover, Utah, firmed $20/st on May 10, to $445/st FOB for 60 percent white standard and $450/st FOB for 60 percent white granular.

Western Canada:

Early fill program offers for potash were circulating at the C$505/mt level FOB Saskatchewan mines in early May, but those offers are now off the table. New pricing reportedly returned to the C$530/mt FOB level again after the fill program order period ended.

India:

Belarus Potash Co. (BPC) is reported to have been awarded the full tonnage under RCF’s May 3 tender for the supply of 105,000 mt of standard potash (35,000 mt firm quantities and 70,000 mt at the buyer’s option). Sources said the award was made at a price level above the current contract price of $280/mt CFR, but this could not be confirmed by press time.

Bangladesh:

The Ministry of Agriculture has extended the closing of its annual purchase tender for the supply of potash and DAP to June 3, back from the original May 27 closing date (GM May 7, p. 19). The ministry is looking for 200,000 mt of standard potash for shipment by Oct. 15.

Brazil:

Strong demand for MOP at Paranagua has moved the price up to $385-$390/mt CFR. Sources said buyers are looking for product but finding only limited tons at the ports and inland.

Rondonopolis is pegged at $490-$540/mt FOB ex-warehouse, up $70/mt on the low end and $44/mt on the high end. The soybean barter rate for 1 mt of MOP changed from 21 bags last week to 23 bags this week. The barter rate for corn remains at 55 bags for 1 mt of MOP.

South Korea:

MOP imports in South Korea for the first four months of the year were down 14 percent, to 256,000 mt from 298,000 mt during the same period last year. April imports were also down

Imports in April 2021 alone were at 67,000 mt against April 2020 imports of 298,000 mt. Even though the numbers were down significantly, the April 2021 imports were in the ballpark for monthly MOP imports so far this year. The average import amount in the first quarter was 63,000 mt/month.

Sulfur

ADNOC - Abu Dhabi, Alberta, Brazil, Caribbean, China, Market Watch, Qatar, Sulfur, Tampa, U.S. Gulf, Vancouver, West Coast

Tampa:

Tampa molten sulfur contracts were noted at $192/lt CFR for delivery in the second quarter, an increase of $96/lt from the prior $96/lt CFR deal.

Refinery utilization edged up for the week ending May 14, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported. Operable capacity stood at 86.3 percent for the period, a 0.2-point lift from the prior week’s 86.1 percent and ahead of both the year-ago 69.4 percent and the 86.0 percent five-year average.

Crude inputs moved to an average 15.116 million barrels/d for the week, rising 96,000 barrels/d from the week-ago 15.020 million barrel/d average.

U.S. Gulf:

Price ideas on the Gulf sulfur export market remained in the $180-$185/mt FOB range, sources said, although firming freight costs were noted pressuring likely netbacks toward the bottom of the range.

Brazil:

Last-done Brazil spot continued at $209/mt CFR, unmoved from one week earlier. Contract values were reported in the $213-$214/mt CFR range for delivery in the second quarter.

Caribbean:

The 200,000 barrel/d Limetree Bay refinery, located on the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Croix, reported a halt to all refining operations on May 18 following a shutdown order from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

EPA issued the ruling after investigating a number of infractions, the most recent of which saw oil droplets raining down on a number of nearby neighborhoods, Bloomberg reported. In a May 18 statement, Limetree said it had voluntarily shut down operations over the May 12-13 period immediately following its most recent incident.

The facility, formerly co-owned by Hess Corp. and Venezuela state oil producer PDVSA, was restarted in January after sitting idle since 2012.

Vancouver:

Last-done Vancouver values continued to fall in the $170-$180/mt FOB range, sources said. Firming sentiment reported out of China could lift Vancouver in the next round of business.

Alberta:

Sources noted Alberta market netbacks at $65-$110/mt FOB, steady from the prior report. Both molten tons contracted into the U.S. market and prilled material exported through Vancouver were included in the spread.

West Coast:

A May 20 fire at the 245,000 barrel/d Chevron Corp. refinery in Richmond, Calif., was extinguished with no injuries, Reuters reported. Genscape did not report any production outages resulting from the event.

West Coast spot price ideas continued to be noted even with Vancouver at $170-$180/mt FOB. Molten contracts were quoted at $140-$155/lt FOB for the second quarter, rising from $70-$77/lt FOB in Q1.

China:

Last-done China imports continued to be heard at $180-$200/mt CFR, steady from the prior report. Firming sentiment was noted pushing new indications higher, potentially above the $210/mt CFR mark.

ADNOC:

ADNOC prills were quoted at $183/mt FOB Ruwais for May lifting, a $2/mt decline from $185/mt FOB in April.

Qatar:

Muntajat set May solid sulfur pricing at $183/mt FOB Ras Laffan, down $2/mt from $185/mt FOB in the prior month.

Sulfuric Acid

Brazil, China, Gulf Coast, Market Watch, Midwest, Sulfuric Acid, U.S. Gulf, West Coast

U.S. Gulf:

Low domestic contract values relative to current international spot rates continued to suppress spot import demand, sources noted. Last-done remained unchanged in the $135-$140/mt CFR range, while players pointed to $160/mt CFR as the minimum needed to attract a vessel in the current market.

Gulf Coast:

Gulf Coast contracts were quoted at $85-$110/st DEL for 2021. Sources put Lower Atlantic agreements in a general $90-$110/st DEL range.

Midwest:

Sources reported sulacid delivered prices to the U.S. Midwest on par with the Gulf at $85-$110/st DEL.

West Coast:

West Coast tons were quoted in the $100-$130/st DEL range for 2021 contracts.

Brazil:

Brazil imports were heard lifting into the upper-$160s/mt CFR in recent trading. The market was previously reported at $155-$160/mt CFR.

China:

Aluminum producer China Hongqiao is planning to relocate up to 1 million mt/y of smelting capacity from Shandong to Yunnan, Reuters reported. The move would allow Hongqiao to take advantage of cheap, abundant hydropower widely available in the southern province.

Hongqiao in 2019 announced plans to relocate 2 million mt/y of smelting capacity to Yunnan’s Wenshan prefecture, and began that project in September 2020. The additional 1 million mt/y increase, expected to be based in the neighboring Honghe prefecture, would see nearly 50 percent of the company’s 6.46 million mt/y capacity shifted to Yunnan.

Hongqiao is China’s second-largest aluminum producer, after state-run Chinalco.

Primary lead smelters operating in Henan, Hunan, and Yunnan provinces operated at a combined 57.7 percent capacity for the week ending May 14, Shanghai Metals Market reported, a 3.7-point increase from week-ago levels. Concluded maintenance turnarounds at Henan Yuguang Gold and Lead, Jinli Gold and Lead, Hunan Yuteng, and Yunnan Chihong contributed to the rising levels, while a maintenance turnaround at Liaoning Haicheng was scheduled to halt production for an estimated 20 days.

Secondary lead smelters located in Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, and Guizhou provinces increased total utilization to 50.86 percent, up from the week-ago 50.73 percent. The increase was largely attributed to a production ramp-up from Guizhou Canxian.

Ammonium Thiosulfate

Amthio, California, Eastern Cornbelt, Market Watch, Pacific N.W., Specialty, Western Canada, Western Cornbelt

Eastern Cornbelt:

The last ammonium thiosulfate offers were reported at $500/st FOB Ohio River terminals and $500-$525/st truck-DEL into the Illinois market, but sources reported no availability at mid-month. IOC said it is now sold out on rail through mid- to late-June.

Western Cornbelt:

Sources reported no ammonium thiosulfate prices in the Western Cornbelt during the week, with current inventories described as nonexistent. The last offers were pegged at a firm $400/st FOB.

California:

Sources reported no current ammonium thiosulfate offers in California, with no tons available at mid-month.

Pacific Northwest:

Ammonium thiosulfate was pegged at the $295-$300/st DEL level for the last reported offers in the Pacific Northwest, but inventories were described as nonexistent. “ATS can’t be found at any price,” commented one source.

Western Canada:

Sources continued to report no current prices for ammonium thiosulfate in Western Canada, with no tons being offered due to extremely tight supply.

Calcium Ammonium Nitrate

Benelux, Calcium Ammonium Nitrate, California, CAN-17, Germany, Market Watch, Pacific N.W., Specialty

California:

CAN-17 remained at $280-$290/st FOB in California, with the low at Stockton and the upper end confirmed at Helm.

Pacific Northwest:

The CAN-17 market reportedly firmed to $295/st FOB Kennewick, Wash., early in the week, up some $30/st from last report.

Germany/Benelux:

Yara has posted “new season” terms for June deliveries of its CAN 27 percent (YaraBelaNitromag) for Germany and Benelux. The list price, posted May 21, is set at €255/mt bulk CIF for both destinations, and is a €15/mt reduction on the last posting in mid-March (GM March 12, p. 20).

Yara said the new terms are applicable with immediate effect, and, once again, warned only a limited volume of product will be available.

Rival supplier OCI last week was heard to be asking €285/mt bulk CIF for CAN deliveries in Germany and Benelux (GM May 14, p. 20).

Yara has announced new list prices for June deliveries of YaraBelaSulfan for Germany and Benelux. The new prices are set at €265.50/mt bulk CIF for Germany and €267/mt CIF for Benelux, effective immediately. The new prices are down €15/mt on the last postings, announced in mid-March.