All posts by mickeybarb@charter.net

Calcium Ammonium Nitrate

Benelux, Calcium Ammonium Nitrate, Germany, Market Watch, Specialty

Germany/Benelux:

Yara on Feb. 15 posted its list price for April deliveries of CAN-27 (YaraBelaNitromag) in Germany and Benelux, setting the price at €258/mt bulk CIF for both regions. The price marks an €8/mt increase on Yara’s last posted March delivery price set early this month (GM Feb. 5, p. 20)

Yara also announced its list price for April deliveries of YaraBela Sulfan, posting the new price at €268.50/mt bulk CIF for Germany and €270/mt  bulk CIF for Benelux, an €8/mt on the last postings for March deliveries (GM Feb. 5, p. 20).Yara said only a limited volume of these products will be available.

NPK

Belarus, Market Watch, NPK, Specialty

Belarus:

Belarus exported 1.07 million mt of NPK fertilizers in 2020, an 18 percent increase over the previous year, according to an Interfax report this week, citing the country’s National Statistics Service (Belstat). The bulk of the exports went to Ukraine at 611,600 mt, up 33 percent from 2019, and to the E.U. at 429,200 mt, up 3 percent from 2019.

Transportation

Illinois River, Market Watch, Mississippi RIver, Ohio River, Transportation, U.S. Gulf

U.S. Gulf:

Extreme winter weather impacted logistics throughout the eastern river system, including the U.S. Gulf. Snow and ice interrupted operations at both Houston and New Orleans on Feb. 15-16, and movements of larger ocean-going vessels between the Gulf and lower Mississippi River were reportedly halted on Feb. 15 until conditions improved.

Movements in the East Canal fared somewhat better, sources said, while Gulf and West Canal movements were projected to remain limited through at least Feb. 19.

Towing restrictions persisted at Port Allen Lock during the week after a January barge collision resulted in damage to the guidewall. Tows moving westward with more than one barge were permitted to pass with the use of an assist vessel, while boats running one or no barges were cleared to lock unassisted. Tows traveling eastbound were required to utilize an assist vessel on lengths above 650 feet.

Combined with winter weather noted in the area, delays through Port Allen were reported up to 61 hours on Feb. 13-16, rising from 10-24 hours noted previously.

Sources continued to report restrictions at Algiers Lock for the week. Tows with widths above 60 feet were capped at 600-foot lengths, while tows running narrower than 60 feet were allowed to run 700-feet long. The restrictions effectively capped lockages at four standard barges or two 30,000 mt tankers per turn. Dolphin repair scheduled for Feb. 22 was expected to block Algiers Lock travel between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.

The East Canal’s Rigolets Bridge is closed through March 12 for repairs, limiting access to the Pearl River. Marine transit is being permitted three times daily through the site, at 5:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 9:30 p.m. As a result, substantial delays were reported.

Bayou Sorrel Lock travel was delayed up to 18 hours for the week, while Industrial Lock delays spiked to 37 hours on Feb. 15-16. Intermittent Algiers Lock waits were noted at 9-13 hours, and Calcasieu Lock passages were reported taking up to 24-27 hours during the week. Brazos Lock delays ran in an 11-32 hour range, sources said.

Mississippi River:

Extreme winter weather forced a complete navigation shutdown at St. Louis on Feb. 15, sources said. Movements south of St. Louis were severely restricted as well, with a number of fleets reporting a voluntary halt to operations until conditions improve.

Prior to the storm, ice formation between St. Louis and Cairo, Ill., prompted towing restrictions, reducing northbound towing capacity from a combined 15 loaded barges and nine empty barges to 15 loaded barges and three empties, while all-empty tows were reduced from 30 barges to 24. Southbound tows were cut from the typical 25 loaded barges to 15-20 cargoes, determined on a case-by-case basis.

River levels at St. Louis measured 3.98 feet on Feb. 17, but were forecast to fall below the 0.00-foot mark on Feb. 21, likely hindering movements and setting up potential towing restrictions, sources said.

Planned dike work at Mile 770 on the lower river was expected to begin in late February. Once underway, the project will likely block southbound travel daily from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The Lock 27 main chamber was shut through Feb. 18 for planned maintenance and repairs, prompting detours through the smaller auxiliary chamber. Delays were reported up to 50 hours on Feb. 17. Ice accumulation reported around the Lock 27 miter gate limited tows to 105 feet of width for the week.

Upper Mississippi River travel is unavailable for the winter season. Locks 13-19 are tentatively slated to begin reopening for spring travel on March 15, while Lock 25 is scheduled to resume lockages as early as March 31.

Illinois River:

Illinois River travel has remained limited since Feb. 8 due to extreme winter weather and rapidly thickening ice conditions.

Width restrictions on tows more than 89 feet were in place on vessels transiting LaGrange Lock, Peoria Lock, Starved Rock Lock, and Marseilles Lock, while a number of fleets were noted opting to halt movements altogether. Operations were projected to begin improving in the Feb. 18-24 window.

The cold weather extended indefinite delays to the planned Utica Bridge demolition project, previously slated for Feb. 11. No new date for the work had been announced as of Feb. 17. Navigation through the site will be unavailable for at least 24 hours while demolition and cleanup efforts are in progress.

Mile 47 dredging activities were scheduled to conclude on Feb. 16, ending a spate of overnight navigation shutdowns that began on Feb. 10.

Marseilles Lock delays were clocked in a general 4-7 hour range for the week. Sources reported LaGrange Lock wait times up to 65 hours.

Ohio River:

The 1,200-foot primary chamber at Meldahl Lock returned from fill valve repairs on Feb. 12, sources said, reopening the chamber to navigation. An additional planned shutdown for repairs to gate machinery was expected to halt main chamber operations from April 12 through June 12, prompting detours through the 600-foot secondary chamber. Delays are expected.

The Markland Lock auxiliary chamber is projected to remain shut through Oct. 29 due to cracks in the miter gate. Locking is available through the primary chamber, sources said.

A secondary chamber closure has been underway since Feb. 1 at Smithland Lock. Following the current 30-day shutdown, the site’s second auxiliary chamber is set to close for an estimated 30 days, taking the total project through approximately April 1. Navigation was said to remain available through the primary chamber.

The secondary chamber at New Cumberland Lock is scheduled to shut between March 8 and June 10.

Greenup Lock auxiliary chamber repairs reportedly concluded on Feb. 15, ending a weeklong emergency shutdown that kicked off on Feb. 9. A main chamber shutdown at the site, previously set to begin on Feb. 11, was rescheduled for Feb. 16 through March 5, forcing traffic through the newly-repaired secondary chamber. Following the main chamber work, a Corps posting pointed to additional auxiliary chamber repairs slated for March 11 through April 11.

Looking further ahead, the main chamber at Cannelton Lock is scheduled to halt operations from June 21 through Nov. 19, with significant delays predicted.

The Tennessee River’s Kentucky Lock was reportedly closed to unassisted navigation on Feb. 15 due to heavy ice at the lock, pushing wait times to as high as 12 hours. Delays at Pickwick Landing Lock tracked up to seven hours on Feb. 17.

Cheatham Lock on the Cumberland River will undergo a primary chamber closure from April 12 through June 21, with heavy delays expected. Sources have predicted a total of four multiday opening windows sprinkled throughout the shutdown to clear waiting tows.

Crops/Weather

Crops/Weather, Eastern Cornbelt, Market Watch, South Central, Southeast, Southern Plains, Western Cornbelt

Eastern Cornbelt:

More snow and cold temperatures hammered the Eastern Cornbelt region during the week, prompting numerous winter storm warnings and travel advisories.

Parts of northern Illinois were blanketed with another 8-12 inches of snow on Feb. 15-16, which followed earlier storms on Feb. 11-14. Wind chills dropped to as low as -25 in northern areas of the state early on Feb. 15, but temperatures gradually warmed to the 20s by midweek.

Central Indiana was hit with more than a foot of snow on Feb. 15-16, and heavy snows were also reported across central and southwestern Ohio. The heavy snow was accompanied by subzero wind chills and winds up to 25 mph, causing road closures due to drifting snow in some locations.

Western Cornbelt:

Bitterly cold temperatures across the Western Cornbelt at mid-month strained the region’s power grid and natural gas supplies, with reports of rolling blackouts occurring across portions of northern Iowa early in the week.

At least four Iowa cities set records for their lowest temperatures on Valentine’s Day, with highs staying below zero all day in Des Moines and Waterloo. Temperatures across the state dropped to the negative 20s on Feb. 14-16, with the lowest readings reported at -33 in Le Mars and Denison early on Feb. 16.

Wind chill warnings were in effect for much of Missouri on Feb. 15-16, with lows dropping to -25 in parts of the Ozarks region. Wind chills ranged from -15 to -30 in southeastern Nebraska early in the week, with subzero lows still common across the state on the morning of Feb. 17. Warmer weather was on tap for the balance of the week, however, with highs expected to reach the upper-20s to mid-30s across Nebraska by the weekend.

Southern Plains:

Heavy snowfall and record-setting cold weather hammered much of the Southern Plains region in mid-February, resulting in widespread power outages across Texas. Sources also reported significant damage to wheat, winter vegetables, fruit crops, and newly emerged corn in parts of Texas, with one source describing this as a 70-year weather event.

Wichita, Kan., posted its coldest Valentine’s Day and President’s Day on record, with temperatures falling to the negative teens on both days. The bitter cold was accompanied by up to three inches of snow in Wichita, with higher amounts near the Oklahoma border.

Oklahoma City, Okla., was blanketed with 4-7 inches of snow during the week, with 6-10 inches reported in southern Oklahoma. Record cold temperatures were posted throughout the state over the holiday weekend, with highs staying in the single digits in Oklahoma City on Feb. 16. Forecasts called for a return to above-freezing temperatures by the coming weekend.

Temperatures in the teens and single digits were common across northern Texas during the week, with highs not expected to reach above freezing until late on Feb. 19 before reaching the 40s and 50s by the weekend. Snowfall across northern and central Texas ranged from 1-3 inches in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to 5-7 inches along the Red River. As of midweek, Dallas had received five inches of snow during February.

“Weather is certainly the story here in central Texas,” said one industry contact at midweek. “It never snows here, and it snowed twice in the past 30 days. It was 4 degrees this morning and won’t reach 32 until sometime Friday. We have no idea how to drive in this, so pretty much the whole region is shut down until Thursday or Friday.”

Much of New Mexico also experienced frigid temperatures during the week, with snowfall ranging from 1-2 inches in Albuquerque up to 6-12 inches in the mountains. Midweek storms also brought heavy snows to Colorado, including 4.8 inches in Fort Collins and 10.5 inches in Boulder.

South Central:

The South Central region experienced cold temperatures, snow, and ice in mid-February, which caused road closures and widespread power outages.

Central Arkansas was hit with another 5-10 inches of snow during the week, with Little Rock already posting its snowiest February on record with nearly half of the month still to go. The latest storm left thousands of Arkansas residents without power on Feb. 16, with most of the outages reported in Lonoke, Montgomery, Pike, and Sevier counties.

Winter weather also hammered Tennessee and Kentucky during the week, with reports of 3-6 inches of snow falling in the Louisville, Ky., area on Feb. 14-15.

Freezing temperatures were reported across Louisiana and Mississippi as well. Parts of Mississippi were coated with a quarter to a half-inch of ice during the week, while midweek forecasts warned that northern and central areas of Louisiana were unlikely to see temperatures above freezing for the balance of the week.

Southeast:

While southern Florida baked in 80-degree heat during the week, parts of Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas, and Virginia were bracing for another round of freezing rain and ice.

Winter weather alerts and states of emergency were issued for Virginia and Eastern North Carolina on Feb. 17 as the region prepared for another blast of ice and frigid temperatures on Feb. 18-19. An earlier storm over the Valentine’s Day weekend caused widespread power outages across both states.

A mixture of snow, sleet, and freezing rain was also moving through Alabama on Feb. 17-18, with forecasts warning of 1-2 inches of snow and less than a tenth of an inch of ice for some parts of the state. A flash flood watch was issued for northern and central Georgia at midweek, with 1-2 inches of rain expected to fall on already saturated soil.

The inclement weather has delayed fertilizer application and fieldwork across northern areas of the Southeast. “It’s very cold today,” said one Georgia contact at midweek. “We’ve had so much rain we need it to dry up right now. We have some aerial application going on wheat because of the rain. The soil is saturated.”

Much of central and southern Florida, meanwhile, enjoyed temperatures in the 80s as the week progressed, with showers and storms likely to increase by the weekend. “Just about every crop that we sell fertilizer to in Florida is being fertilized right now,” commented one Florida source. “With all these raw materials going up, people are filling up their warehouses.”

Analyst Consensus Reflects Mosaic Turnaround; Majors to Release Results Feb. 17

Earnings, Eastern Cornbelt, News, News Briefs, Saskatchewan, Tampa

The Mosaic Co., Tampa, is expected to post increases in net income for both the fourth-quarter and full-year, according to the Bloomberg Consensus, the average estimates made by major analysts. The company is expected to post fourth-quarter net income of $68 million and a full-year loss of $91 million.

It is a big turnaround for Mosaic, as the company posted year-ago losses of $921 million and $1.07 billion, respectively. In addition to citing challenging market conditions in 2019, Mosaic took major charges on its goodwill and asset portfolio.

Nutrien Ltd., Saskatoon, is expected to post fourth-quarter income of $93 million, compared to a year-ago loss of $48 million. However, the analysts estimate for the full-year is $227 million, down from the year-ago $992 million.

Analysts estimate that CF Industries Holdings Inc., Deerfield, Ill., will report lower income for both the quarter and year. Fourth-quarter net income is put at $25 million, down from the year-ago $55 million. The full-year estimate is $247 million, down from $493 million.

Mosaic, Nutrien, and CF are all expected to release their results on Wednesday, Feb. 17, after markets close.

Mosaic 4Q-20 Est. 4Q-19 2020 Est. 2019
Net Income 68 M (921 M) (91 M) (1.07 B)
Revenues 2.15 B 2.08 B 8.34 B 8.91 B
Adj. EBITDA 468 M (202 M) 1.5 B 1.35 B
Nutrien 4Q-20 Est. 4Q-19 2020 Est. 2019
Net Income 93 M (48) 227 M 992 M
Revenues 3.7 B 3.4 B 20 B 20 B
Adj. EBITDA 709 M 664 M 3.6 B 4 B
CF 4Q-20 Est. 4Q-19 2020 Est. 2019
Net Income 25 M 55 M 247 M 493 M
Revenues 1 B 1 B 4 B 4.6
Adj. EBITDA 283 M 325 M 1.3 1.6

The Andersons Invests in Renewable Energy, Organic Fertilizer

News, News Briefs, Specialty

The Andersons Inc., Maumee, Ohio, said on Feb. 11 it is making an investment in BioStar Renewables LLC, Overland Park, Kan., and is establishing an active working relationship focused on the areas of renewable natural gas (RNG) and organic fertilizer. BioStar specializes in anaerobic digestion technology that can transform animal, food, and other wastes into RNG and organic fertilizer.

“The Andersons is excited to work with BioStar and help expand their RNG presence,” said Bill Krueger, President of The Andersons Trade and Processing. “This business relationship will give us more exposure to the RNG market and different ways to monetize carbon and greenhouse gas reduction processes throughout the agriculture supply chain.”

The Andersons and BioStar are also actively evaluating opportunities to work together with regard to BioStar’s patented SuperSix™ organic fertilizer. SuperSix is an OMRI-listed ammonia fertilizer that is made from the byproducts of the anaerobic digestion process.

“BioStar looks forward to working with The Andersons to further grow our RNG and organic fertilizer business as we promote sustainable agriculture,” said Bill Love, CEO of BioStar.

To date, BioStar said it has originated and financed more than $250 million of clean energy projects across the U.S. Among its waste-to-fertilizer projects are Perfect Blend, an organic fertilizer manufacturer and distributor in Othello, Wash., and Majestic Crossing Dairy, Sheboygan Falls, Wisc.