AMMONIA
Tampa/U.S. Gulf: Tampa prices for April moved to $555/mt DEL, up $10/mt from March’s $545/mt DEL.
Eastern Cornbelt: Anhydrous ammonia was steady at $665-$685/st FOB regional terminals to the dealer, depending on location and time of delivery, with the low quoted on a spot basis in the Illinois market.
Western Cornbelt: Anhydrous ammonia pricing was unchanged at $640-$660/st FOB regional terminals to the dealer.
Northern Plains: Delivered ammonia pricing in the North Dakota market ranged widely from $720-$760/st for spring tons, depending on supplier. Minnesota sources tagged the dealer market for ammonia in the $660-$673/st range FOB terminals.
Eastern Canada: Ontario sources quoted the anhydrous ammonia market solidly at the $770/mt FOB level to the dealer. One Ontario contact noted that last year at this time, a few growers in his location were already trying to plant some corn. This year, by contrast, most areas are either snow-covered or wet in the region. A New Brunswick dealer said growers will be out of the field in his trade area for at least another four weeks.
Black Sea: The increase in the Tampa price should indicate a rise in Yuzhnyy as well, say sources. The $10/mt jump in price to $555/mt CFR translates to $495/mt FOB in Yuzhnyy. With some variations allowed in freight and negotiations, the best guess for a price range is $490-$500/mt FOB.
UREA
U.S. Gulf: Granular barge prices continued to erode last week, with new prompt trades reported as low as $315/st FOB later in the week. Others put the week’s high at $330/st FOB.
In the meantime, prill prices remain hard to gauge due to short supply and the lack of fresh business. Yara is sitting on Libyan prill barges until it gets final clearance to sell them from the U.S. government due to the intervening sanctions against Libya.
There were also reports that Romanian prill production is offline, further tightening the market.
Eastern Cornbelt: Sources pegged the dealer market for granular urea in the $390-$395/st FOB range in the Illinois market last week, reflecting another drop from last report. The upper end was pegged at the $400/st FOB level in Ohio on a spot basis.< Western Cornbelt: Sources continued to report some topdress movement on winter wheat in the region, as weather and field conditions allowed.
Granular urea pricing had reportedly slipped to $375-$390/st FOB river terminals in the region. In the Southern Plains market, sources said warehouse urea prices had dropped to the $360-$370/st FOB range in late March.
Northern Plains: Granular urea pricing had reportedly slipped to $380-$395/st FOB river terminals in southern Minnesota, with delivered tons pegged in the $445-$455/st range in the North Dakota market.
Northeast: Sources continued to quote the Philadelphia urea market at the $425/st FOB level. Sources cited limited inventories from suppliers who positioned tons earlier as the reason the market has not slipped in response to lower barge pricing at the U.S. Gulf.
Eastern Canada: Granular urea pricing was up from last report at $525-$535/mt FOB in the region. An Ontario source said growers were moving a little urea, ammonium sulfate, and potash blends for wheat topdressing in dry areas east of Toronto, but most other locations remained snow-covered or wet.
India: The IPL tender confirmed two key points about the current state of the urea market: 1) Prices are soft; and 2) Iranian tons continue to dominate the Indian market.
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