U.S. Gulf/Tampa: Chatter had begun on Tampa prices for May, but no new business was reported. If not a price decrease, buyers were reportedly at least looking for a rollover of April pricing for May. Sellers were hoping for some uptick, maybe as high as $20/mt.
Trinidad supplies are a little tighter than originally expected. Just when things appeared to be returning to normal in Trinidad after one spate of gas curtailments, another round of curtailments was announced. As a result, all major producers are expected to see some cutback through the end of April. PotashCorp is running its number one and two plants at 85 percent production, with its other two ammonia plants and urea plant running at capacity.
Yara already had one plant down for a month through April 20 for a turnaround.
U.S. imports of ammonia were up 7 percent in February, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), to 543,533 st from the year-ago 506,673 st. July-February imports were up 19 percent, to 5.06 million st from the year-ago 4.24 million st.
Eastern Cornbelt: Ammonia pricing was steady at $675-$690/st FOB in the region, with the low out of Illinois terminals and the upper end in Indiana. Illinois sources also reported some lower offers for rail-delivered ammonia in the $660-$680/st range last week, which one source attributed to the weather delays and narrowing window for preplant ammonia applications.
Powerful storms ripped through the region on April 19-20, producing tornadoes and damaging winds, hail, and torrential rains in some locations. As of April 17, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated that 9 percent of the Illinois corn crop was planted, compared with just 2 percent in Indiana and zero in Ohio.
Western Cornbelt: The ammonia market was steady at $625-$650/st FOB regional terminals for prompt tons. USDA reported that 26 percent of Missouri’s corn crop was planted by April 17, compared with just 2-3 percent in Iowa and Nebraska. Additional weather delays hit northern Iowa last week in the forms of rain and snow.
Northern Plains: Anhydrous ammonia prices were down slightly from last report, with sources citing fieldwork delays and a shrinking preplant application window as reasons for the drop. The dealer market for ammonia out of regional terminals was tagged at $650-$685/st FOB last week, with delivered tons in the $720-$725/st range in North Dakota.
Rain and snow returned to the Northern Plains region last week, compounding fieldwork delays. One source said some growers were trying to scratch fields in central Minnesota early in the week, but work was limited to lighter soils. No corn was planted in the region yet. A North Dakota source said growers in his location are looking at starting in the May 5-11 time frame, provided weather conditions cooperate.
Great Lakes: Some preplant ammonia had been applied in the region before the latest round of precipitation. Winter weather returned to the Great Lakes region last week, bringing snow and rain to large sections of Wisconsin and Michigan. Fieldwork delays continued as a result. “It’s not looking good here,” said one Wisconsin source early in the week. “We’ll be lucky if we’re going next week. I think it’ll be May before anything starts here.”
Wisconsin sources quoted the ammonia market at the $685/st FOB level for prompt or forward tons, while Michigan dealers pegged the market at $695/st FOB Huntington, Ind., and $700/st FOB Courtright, Ontario. Several sources said the weather delays might result in lower spot ammonia prices, since any remaining preplant volumes may be cut if growers move directly to planting when fields dry out.
Black Sea: Sources report producers are confident th