All posts by webster@kennedyinfo.com

Ammonium Nitrate

Ammonium Nitrate, Market Watch, Southeast, Southern Plains, U.S. Gulf, Western Cornbelt

U.S. Gulf: Like urea and UAN, AN was moving up as well, with new trades reported within the $350-$360/st FOB range.

Imports were up 28 percent in January, to 131,957 st from the year-ago 103,196 st. However, July-January imports are up only 2 percent, to 414,888 st from the year-ago 404,959 st.

Western Cornbelt: The ammonium nitrate market was quoted at $410-$415/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, up slightly from last report.

Southern Plains: The ammonium nitrate market had reportedly firmed to $400-$405/st FOB the port of Tulsa, up $10/st from last report.

South Central: Ammonium nitrate pricing had firmed in the region. Sources quoted the dealer market at $380-$395/st FOB, with the low FOB Memphis and the upper end quoted in the Arkansas market.

Southeast: The ammonium nitrate market was steady at $390-$395/st FOB Tampa, and $400/st rail-DEL in the Carolinas.

Ammonium Sulfate

Ammonium Sulfate, Eastern Cornbelt, Market Watch, Southeast, Southern Plains, Western Cornbelt

Eastern Cornbelt: Granular ammonium sulfate remained at $375-$385/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt. Effective March 12, Honeywell increased its granular ammonium sulfate postings to $395/st FOB Danville, Ill., Amherst Junction, Wisc., and Prairie du Chien, Wisc. Mid-grade postings from the company moved on that date to $365/st FOB Danville and Byron, Ill.

Granular ammonium sulfate postings from DSM were reported at $395/st DEL to the Midwest, with the market after discounts quoted at the $375.25/st DEL level.

The ammonium thiosulfate market was pegged at $360-$380/st FOB in the region.

Western Cornbelt: Granular ammonium sulfate was pegged at $375-$385/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt. Effective March 12, Honeywell increased its granular ammonium sulfate postings to $395/st FOB St. Louis, Dubuque, Iowa, St. Omaha, Neb., and Roseport, Minn. Mid-grade postings from the company moved on that date to $365/st FOB Roseport and Red Rock, Minn., and $370/st FOB Omaha.

The ammonium thiosulfate market remained at $360-$380/st FOB in the region.

Southern Plains: Granular ammonium sulfate was pegged at $325-$365/st FOB Texas shipping points, reflecting higher postings that took effect March 1. New postings FOB Plainview, Texas, included granular ammonium sulfate at $365/st FOB, coarse at $355/st FOB, and standard at $350/st FOB.

APF’s granular ammonium sulfate postings in Texas moved on March 1 to $325/st FOB Freeport, $335/st FOB Galena Park, $350/st FOB Fort Worth, and $365/st FOB Littlefield. Coarse postings from the company firmed to $315/st FOB Freeport, $325/st FOB Galena Park, $340/st FOB Fort Worth, and $355/st FOB Littlefield, while standard grade postings moved to $310/st FOB Freeport and $350/st FOB Littlefield. APF’s N-Pac Compacted reference price moved on March 1 to $340/st FOB Galena Park.

Kansas sources quoted the ammonium thiosulfate market in the $320-$325/st FOB range at mid-month.

South Central: The granular ammonium sulfate market was pegged at $350-$360/st FOB South Central terminals to the dealer, up some $5/st from last report. Effective March 1, APF’s granular ammonium sulfate posting FOB Mermentau, La., firmed to $355/st FOB.

Ammonium thiosulfate was reported in a broad range at $330-$365/st FOB in the region, depending on location and supplier.

Southeast: Granular ammonium sulfate was quoted at $310-$315/st FOB Hopewell, Va., or Augusta, Ga., and $320-$340/st DEL in the Southeast region, depending on location.

Phosphates

Central Florida, Di-Ammonium Phosphate, Eastern Cornbelt, Market Watch, Mono-Ammonium Phosphate, Southeast, Southern Plains, U.S. Exports, U.S. Gulf, U.S. Imports, Western Cornbelt

Central Florida: With the temperatures warm and conditions in some areas dry enough, some field activity was underway in areas served from Central Florida. Dealers still have enough in their bins to get things started, however, so prompt, spot orders for railcars were pretty skimpy last week.

Only halfway through March, spring was already breaking through, but the spring sales season was still a little ways off. The Northeast and parts of Ohio will have to get drier before things get rolling.

No new spot sales of prompt railcars were found last week, but trains were being loaded under existing contracts, and that will have to do for the time being.

CF Industries was still limited on its availability until the end of the month, and that could be extended if it commits more to export.

The Central Florida DAP price range was unchanged last week at $460-$470/st FOB. CF Industries was posted at the $465/st FOB mark, and Mosaic was ready to do business in the $460-$470/st FOB range, depending on quantity. MAP remained in short supply and was listed at a $20/st premium to DAP by Mosaic in Central Florida, about the same difference as from traders. PCS Sales was selling at prices comparable to the market.

U.S. Gulf: NOLA DAP barge sales picked up last week – and so did prices. Increased activity was found at terminals, and the number of available barges was thinning. It would be hard to call it a run, but business was definitely better in some areas, like the Southern Plains.

Most dealers had not yet reached the point where they had begun large scale replacement of product in their bins, but their farmer customers were getting to work preparing the ground. Generally, fieldwork was starting in the more southerly areas and working north.

CF Industries was exporting much of what they produce from Central Florida rather than send it trans-Gulf, where prices were not favorable. Mosaic was sending less across the Gulf and not producing at Donaldsonville, La. Mississippi Phosphates was also doing more export business.

That didn’t leave a lot of domestic production. Although domestic demand has been limited, the spring season will quickly change that situation, and logistics and supply will become the biggest problem.

Prices for corn futures were higher last week compared to the previous week, climbing from $5.54/bushel to $5.7025/bushel for December 2012. The corn price for December 2013 was $5.725/bushel, increasing from $5.4525/bushel the previous reporting period. Soybeans for November 2012 moved up to $13.225/bushel from $12.9275/bushel the past week, and beans for November 2013 increased to $12.40/bushel from $12.18/bushel a week earlier. Wheat for July 2012 rose to $6.6725/bushel from $6.45/bushel the week before, and wheat for July 2013 was listed at $7.1875/bushel last week, up from $7.04/bushel.

Koch was said to have a vessel going to the East Coast to unload both DAP and MAP, believed to be OCP product, and was to stop next on the Gulf Coast. Sources said a second vessel of mostly MAP was scheduled for the Gulf Coast.

Based on actual transactions, the NOLA DAP barge price range for the week was $440-$450/st FOB, compared with the previous week’s range of $438-$443/st FOB. One buyer, after searching for $440/st FOB business early in the week, wisely took a $441/st FOB NOLA DAP barge, which was $6/st FOB less than he had to pay later in the week.

As for a trend, the lowest price was paid early in the week, and the higher prices, which were more common, came near the end of the week. Russian DAP was selling somewhat lower than darker domestic product, but the lower price was following domestic DAP in an upward trend as the week progressed.

After making a few sales at the top of this week’s range, Mosaic held off making additional deals in o

Potash

Eastern Cornbelt, Market Watch, Potash Muriate, Southeast, Southern Plains, U.S. Gulf, Western Cornbelt

U.S. Gulf: Barges remained flat and were called $495-$500/st FOB.

MOP imports were off 52 percent in January, to 586,722 st from the year-ago 1.2 million st. However, July-January imports were off only 19 percent, to 5.22 million from 6.48 million st.

Eastern Cornbelt: Sources quoted the potash market in the $535-$545/st FOB range in the Eastern Cornbelt region.

Western Cornbelt: The potash market was quoted in the $525-$547/st range FOB regional warehouses with the low reported in southern Missouri and the upper end quoted for white granular tons in northern Missouri. One Iowa contact pegged the red granular potash market at the $540/st FOB level in his trade area at mid-month.

Southern Plains: Potash remained at $530-$545/st FOB warehouses in the Southern Plains region, depending on grade, location, and time of delivery. The potash market FOB Carlsbad, N.M., was pegged in the $530-$540/st range, depending on grade.

South Central: Sources reported slightly lower potash prices in the South Central region. The dealer market was commonly quoted in the $525-$535/st range FOB regional warehouses last week, with most of the spot business reported at the lower end of that range.

Southeast: Rail-delivered potash pricing in the region had reportedly slipped to $555-$570/st, depending on location, with the low quoted for red granular tons in the Carolinas. One source reported rail-delivered white granular potash at the $568/st level to his location last week.

Sulfur

Market Watch, Sulfur, Tampa, U.S. Imports, Vancouver, West Coast

Tampa: Supply and demand appeared to be in relative balance last week, and there was nothing to indicate a change in that situation anytime soon.

Some see a tendency toward an excess in supply, while others thought it was tilting the other way. Whichever it is, it’s not much. That may be why there has not been a lot of talk about new second-quarter contract prices – and prices, like the market, may not change much.

About 60,000 mt of prill will be exported this month from the Gulf in two vessels. The product was said to be owned by Shell and Valero.

Refinery capacity operating rates were lower last week – about 0.3 percent, from 83.9 percent the previous week to 82.7 percent, according to the U.S. DOE.

Vancouver: Spot prices at China have increased since the beginning of the month, but that had not transferred to the Vancouver market last week, and should boost prices $5-$10/mt FOB very soon.

The timing was good for sellers, because quarterly contracts were coming up for renewal and that would be a good bargaining chip.

West Coast: West Coast prices continued to track the Vancouver market, and any change in prices will be the result of the situation in China.

U.S. Imports: Imports were off 6 percent in January, to 181,348 st from the year-ago 193,612 st. However, July-January imports were up 3 percent, to 1.39 million st from 1.35 million st.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. – Management Briefs

Management Briefs

CF Industries Holdings Inc. said March 12 that Daniel Swenson has joined the company as senior director, investor relations and corporate communications. He succeeds Terrell Huch, who recently was named director, raw materials procurement. Swenson previously served as vice president, investor relations, at Cooper Industries plc, and as vice president, investor relations and financial planning, at Rockwell Collins Inc. Earlier in his career he held leveraged finance and investment banking positions of increasing responsibility with ABN AMRO, Credit Suisse, and Bank of America Securities.

K+S Aktiengesellschaft – Management Brief

Management Briefs

Joachim Felker, 60, is retiring from the K+S Aktiengesellschaft supervisory board and the board of executive directors when his contract expires Sept. 30, 2012.

Dr. Burkhard Lohr, 49, has been appointed to the board of executive directors and will take over the position of CFO June 1, 2012. He was most recently CFO and also personnel director at Hochtief AG, Essen. Lohr studied business administration at the University of Cologne and obtained his Ph.D. at the Technical University of Braunschweig. Norbert Steiner, K+S executive, had taken over the CFO post on a transitional basis.

Synagro Technologies Inc. – Management Brief

Management Briefs

Synagro Technologies Inc., Houston, said March 6 that Eric Zimmer has been appointed president and CEO of the company. He joined the company in the fall of 2011 as the executive vice president of Synagro’s services division and succeeds Bill Massa, who resigned from the company in October 2011. Zimmer has more than 22 years in the environmental services industry in a variety of positions, including operations, sales, marketing, and business management. Previous employers include Westinghouse, Laidlaw Environmental Services, and Safety-Kleen Corp., which the company said made him the ideal choice to lead Synagro.

ER teams respond to ammonia release

Ammonia, Midwest Cornbelt - Retail, News, News Briefs

Whitten, Iowa — As much as 20,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia may have been released from three tanks at Mid-Iowa Co-op over four hours on Tuesday, March 6, as the result of what was believed to have been a flex connector failure in the piping system. There were no injuries, and emergency steps were taken to spray down the ammonia and contain the contaminated water. At one point there were as many as 50 fire department personnel and emergency responders on the scene, according to Grundy County Sheriff Rick Penning. “I would say that six different fire departments plus three emergency management agencies and the Northeast Iowa Response Group responded,” Penning reported. He said the problem was believed to have been caused by a hole that developed in the pipe located ahead of a valve, and that a lot of the product behind that point contributed to the release. Although there were no water bodies in the vicinity to be concerned about, co-op employees on hand at the time used plant equipment to build earthen and sand dikes to contain the water that was being used to spray down the ammonia. Penning said there were no homes to worry about since the facility is located in a rural part of the community. “The other positive factor,” Penning added, “was that there was a perfect wind blowing straight to the north where a few farms are located, even though we did have reports that the anhydrous could be detected two or three miles away.” One county road on the north side of the facility was closed during that time.

Fertilizer plant explosion results in fine

Eastern Cornbelt, Midwest Cornbelt - Retail, News, News Briefs

Goshen, Ind. — The state has fined a northern Indiana fertilizer distribution plant $6,750 and a welding company $5,250 for an explosion that reportedly sent a tank airborne at the plant in October and injured four people, three of them seriously. According to the Indiana Department of Labor, T & T Fertilizer Inc. and Southwest Enterprises LLC of Goshen have paid the fines. Both companies also have completed the required abatement outlined in the safety orders, according to Robert Dittmer, department spokesman. While investigating the explosion of a tank during welding, the state found that T & T failed to post danger signs, that both companies failed to provide a safety shower area for workers exposed to corrosive materials, and that cutting or welding was allowed in the presence of explosive gases or liquids. Inspectors concluded that the employer had permitted welding on a tank containing aqua ammonia that “had not been cleaned sufficiently to make absolutely certain there were no flammable materials present.” In all, the state found 16 workplace safety violations, and all were categorized as “serious.” All fines were paid without protest, according to Dittmer.