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