All posts by traceybg@gmail.com

POTASH

Eastern Cornbelt, Market Watch, Potash Muriate, Southeast, Southern Plains, Western Cornbelt

Eastern Cornbelt: Potash out of regional warehouses had reportedly slipped to $545-$560/st FOB to the dealer, depending on grade and location.

Western Cornbelt: The potash market was steady at $545-$560/st FOB regional warehouses in the Western Cornbelt.

Southern Plains: The potash market was quoted at $540-$550/st FOB Southern Plains warehouses, down slightly from last report. The potash market FOB Carlsbad, N.M., was pegged in the $530-$540/st range, depending on grade.

South Central: Potash out of regional warehouses had dipped to $535-$555/st FOB, depending on location and supplier.

Southeast: Potash pricing remained at $570-$580/st FOB and $580-$590/st rail-DEL in the Southeast region.

SULFUR

Market Watch, Sulfur, Tampa, Vancouver, West Coast

Tampa: Negotiations for new first-quarter sulfur prices for molten sulfur to Tampa were still underway late last week, but the parties were not really that close. A source said sellers were looking to get $20/lt less, but buyers wanted a reduction of closer to $60/lt.

Still, a source close to the talks said a deal should be done before TFI’s conference in San Diego Feb. 5-8.

Refinery capacity operating rates last week increased 0.6 percent, from 85 percent to 85.6 percent.

Vancouver: Contracts were being settled in Vancouver last week in the $170-$175/mt FOB range, which was a sharp decrease from the previous quarter, when prices were over $200/mt FOB.

China was said to be paying around $200/mt, but freight rates have dropped about $10/mt, which would result in a netback of about $170/mt FOB from Vancouver.

West Coast: Spot prices were in the $170-$180/mt FOB range.

The Week in Fertilizer Stocks

Fertilizer Stocks

The Week in Fertilizer Stocks

Producer Symbol Price Week Ago Year Ago
Agrium AGU 74.29 71.77 93.75
CF Industries CF 166.29 159.66 141.81
Intrepid Potash IPI 24.49 22.99 38.01
Mosaic MOS 54.59 53.30 79.81
PotashCorp* POT 43.45 43.04 56.41
Terra Nitrogen TNH 179.50 179.48 99.04
CVR Partners UAN 26.22 27.04 N/A
Distribution/Retail
Andersons Inc. ANDE 42.30 42.97 39.89
Deere & Co. DE 84.44 81.64 85.72
Scotts SMG 48.72 47.45 51.76

Compass points to lower salt sales

Midwest, News, News Briefs

Overland Park, Kan.—Compass Minerals, which owns specialty fertilizer maker Great Salt Lake Minerals, said Jan. 9 that it expects its salt business to see a large drop in volumes for the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, 2011 – to 2.72 million tons from the year-ago 3.28 million tons. The company said there were 16 snow events in 11 representative cities in the primary North American highway deicing service area during the fourth quarter, versus 50 events in the same cities during the year-ago quarter. However, the company said while the number of snow events was down 68 percent and was well below the ten-year average, the company deicing volumes were down only 17 percent from the year-ago quarter due to strong customer demand to establish pre-season stockpiles, along with above average sales in the United Kingdom market.

Viterra outlook boosted by grain changes

Alberta, Eastern Canada, News, News Briefs, Saskatchewan, Vancouver, Western Canada

Regina—By fiscal 2014, Viterra Inc. expects its EBITDA to increase C$40-$50 million per year due to passage of the Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act in Canada. Under the law, growers now have the freedom to sell their wheat, durum, and barley to buyers of their choice for delivery on or after Aug. 1, 2012. Previously, the Canadian Wheat Board had a monopoly over the purchase of those products for export and human consumption. Viterra expects to see a 1-2.5 percent market share increase. It expects some modest benefits in the fourth quarter of 2012, with more impact coming in 2013 and beyond.

Jacobs wins NZ contract

California, News, News Briefs

Pasadena, Calif.—Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. said Jan. 10 that its Chemetics® unit in Pickering, Ont., has been awarded a design and fabrication contract by Ballance Agri-Nutrients for one Cold Heat Exchanger to be installed in their sulfuric acid plant in New Zealand. Officials estimate the construction value to be $2 million, with a Chemetics contract value estimated at $745,000.

KBR gets Indian contract

Ammonia, Houston, TX, India, News, News Briefs

Houston—KBR said Jan. 5 that it was awarded a contract by Matix Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd. to perform a dynamic simulation study for the complete steam system at its grassroots Panagarh Fertilizer Complex in West Bengal, India. KBR will also deliver an Operator Training Simulator (OTS) for the ammonia plant system to validate the plant’s controls and safety logic design and provide initial and ongoing training for operators.