Central Florida: The DAP market remained slow last week, stranded at the crossroads of restricted supply and diminished demand. Rumors persevered regarding producers’ lack of willingness to release product to the market, but that was contradicted by one producer, who said they “continue to meet (their) customers’ needs.”
MAP supply was said to be even tighter.
In the absence of large transactions, a limited number of DAP truck sales were made into the region at a price of $450/st FOB, and quotes for March DAP sales were put in a similar range of $445-$450/st FOB. Sources were generally bullish on price despite the lack of activity in the market, and planned to test higher price levels in the near future.
Planting season in Central Florida is expected to commence in February or March.
The price of Central Florida DAP was in a range of $415-$450/st FOB based on truck sales and Mosaic’s posted price of $415/st FOB. That number is up from the previous reported range of $400-$415/st FOB.
No MAP deals were found, but that product was expected to carry a $15-$20/st FOB price premium over DAP.
U.S. Gulf: The NOLA DAP market was livelier last week, but overall trading volume remained thin. Prices appeared to find broad agreement for the week, but one source pointed to a lack of selling opportunities as a reason for the lull. “I’m bullish on price, but bearish on liquidity,” he said.
Others pointed to the upcoming TFI conference in San Diego as a factor, speculating that many sought to stand pat in advance of the conference, planning to do business face-to-face instead.
End-users seemed to be recovering from the sticker shock of recent weeks, making small buys from terminals at a reported $465/st FOB price point at the low end of the terminal range.
Spot trades for February delivery were quoted in a range of $433-$445/st FOB, with orders carrying earlier delivery dates loaded immediately. Moroccan OCP was quoted within that price range as well, while Russian product could be had for a few dollars less. A TSP transaction was reported at $355/st FOB.
Traffic on the upper Mississippi River faced a number of hurdles last week. Closures of locks in Wisconsin, southern Illinois, and northern Missouri were announced through mid-March, and rock removal at Thebes, Ill., continued. In addition to towing limitations, passage was expected to be limited to nighttime hours for approximately two weeks at Thebes.
Tow restrictions on the Illinois River remained in effect due to ice, and rapidly decreasing water levels slowed transit on the Ohio River. Gulf operations were limited as a mix of ice and snow hit the New Orleans area, but conditions were said to be improving as of Thursday.
A snapshot of crop prices at 4 p.m. on Jan. 30 showed corn prices up from the previous week, but soybeans and wheat were down as unofficial estimates put quantities of both crops at higher levels than previously expected.
Corn for March 2014 was $4.335/bushel, up from $4.29/bushel at last report, while corn for May 2014 moved to $4.395/bushel from the previous week’s $4.3525/bushel. Contracts for December 2014 corn traded at $4.5025/bushel, up from the previous week’s $4.4925/bushel.
The soybean price for March 2014 was $12.75/bushel, down from the previous week’s $12.77/bushel, while soybeans for May 2014 moved to $12.61/bushel, also down from the prior week’s $12.625/bushel. November 2014 soybeans were $10.9725/bushel, down from the previous week’s $11.0875/bushel.
Wheat for March 2014 was $5.535/bushel, down from $5.70/bushel the previous week, while wheat for May 2014 slipped to $5.5625/bushel from the prior week’s $5.7625/bushel.
DAP prices for the NOLA barge market firmed to $433-$445/st FOB