Central Florida: Truck-loaded DAP offered from Central Florida notched sales at $315/st FOB, sources said. MAP carried a $15/st premium to DAP, and was priced at $330/st FOB.
U.S. Gulf: Sources noted slight firming in the post-holiday barge market, quoting transactions in the $300-$306/st FOB range for DAP. Last-done MAP, described as “hard to find,” was generally called in a $310-$315/st FOB range.
Attributing the upward push to increased demand and waning inventories at the warehouse level, sources described late-week DAP offers in the $308-$313/st FOB range. February DAP was called $308-$310/st FOB, with MAP noted at $313-$317/st FOB.
March tons priced roughly $5/st higher than February failed to draw attention. “There’s not much interest out to March at this point,” said one trader.
Market players expected a number of cargoes for late January discharge, including at least one vessel of Moroccan origin and a second from Russia. Many anticipated a cargo from Chinese producer YUC as well. All told, approximately 3-5 vessels were expected in port by the end of the month.
NOLA DAP barges were quoted at $300-$306/st FOB for the week, up from $300-$305/st FOB at last report. Sources called MAP $310-$315/st FOB, up from $307-$315/st FOB in late December. TSP was quoted at $265-$270/st FOB, below the last reported $268-$270/st FOB range.
Eastern Cornbelt: DAP remained at $335-$345/st FOB most regional warehouses in the Eastern Cornbelt, with the low at Cincinnati and other spot river terminals, and the upper end inland. Spring prepay was reportedly being offered at the $345/st level as well out of Cincinnati and Illinois terminals on a spot basis.
MAP was $10/st higher than DAP, with prompt pegged at the $345/st level FOB Cincinnati and prepay offers quoted at $355/st FOB Cincinnati and Ottawa.
10-34-0 was quoted solidly at the $380/st FOB mark in the Eastern Cornbelt in early January.
Western Cornbelt: DAP was quoted at $335-$350/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt. The St. Louis market was reported at $335/st for prompt tons and $340/st FOB for prepay, while Iowa sources pegged the upriver terminal market at the $350/st FOB level.
MAP was reported at $345-$350/st FOB St. Louis, with the upper end of the regional market quoted at $360-$375/st FOB in the Iowa market, depending on location.
10-34-0 was reported at $355-$365/st FOB in the region, with the low in Nebraska and the upper end in Iowa.
Northern Plains: DAP was quoted at $340-$345/st FOB the Twin Cities, with MAP pegged in the $350-$360/st FOB range at that location. North Dakota sources pegged the MAP market at $395/st FOB and $405-$415/st DEL in early January.
10-34-0 was reported at $355-$365/st FOB in the Northern Plains, with delivered tons quoted at the $375/st level in North Dakota.
Great Lakes: Sources quoted the DAP market in a broad range at $340-$370/st FOB in the Great Lakes region, with the low reported in Wisconsin on a spot basis. Michigan contacts pegged the warehouse market at $365/st FOB for prompt tons and $370/st FOB for prepay.
MAP was pegged in the $355-$395/st FOB range in the region, with the low again reported in Wisconsin for prompt tons. Out of spot Michigan warehouses, the MAP market was quoted at $385-$395/st FOB, with the low for prompt and the upper end for prepay.
10-34-0 was tagged at $380-$400/st FOB in the Great Lakes region, with the low quoted for prompt tons in both the Wisconsin and Michigan markets on a spot basis. Prepay 10-34-0 offers were circulating at $390-$400/st FOB Michigan terminals, depending on location.
Northeast: MAP remained in the $355-$360/st FOB range in the Northeast, depending on location and supplier, with the low reported at Fairless, Pa., and the upper end at East Liverpool. DAP was quoted at a $10/st discount to MAP, where available.
The 10-34-0 market was reported at $395-$405/st FOB in the region, with the low at Mt. Jackson, Va., and the upper end at Baltimore. The market out of terminals in upstate New York was pegged at the $400/st FOB level in early January.
U.S. Export: Following a “sold out” December, Gulf sellers noted tight spot availability for January loading. New offers continued to be quoted at $320/mt FOB, with no fresh business reported.
The Gulf export market was called $320/mt FOB, unchanged from last report.
The first-quarter 2016 contract price of phosphoric acid sold to India was $715/mt CFR, although subsequent negotiations have failed to produce an updated contract. Spot sales rumored at $600/mt CFR and below remain unconfirmed.
Brazil: MAP sold into Brazil edged higher for the week, with last-done noted in the $330-$335/mt CFR range. Most market watchers expected new business to fall closer to the upper end of the spread. “(The market) is right at $335/mt CFR, if not a bit more today,” said one trader.
Sources quoted the market at $325-$330/mt CFR before the holidays.
Saudi Arabia: Observers noted higher pricing out of Saudi Arabia, with last-done firming to $315/mt FOB from $300-$310/mt FOB in the previous report.
Many expected the upward trend to continue. “(Saudi producers) won’t sell another kilo at ($315/mt),” commented one trader.
Europe: EuroChem is reported to have sold 20,000-25,000 mt of Lithuanian DAP to the U.K. and Spain at $330-$335/mt FOB Baltic, and is targeting $370+/mt CFR for January tons for European destinations. PhosAgro is rumored to be fully committed through January. Meanwhile, a small cargo of Moroccan DAP was reportedly sold in the $360s/mt CFR to Greek buyers.
India: A small tender by MMTC for 20,000 mt of DAP and granular MAP closes Jan. 6. The tender is seen by industry sources as a price fishing expedition rather than a deal that must be completed.
While there is some demand for DAP, sources said buyers are just getting back into the swing of things following the holiday celebrations.
China: Sources peg the current DAP market at $310/mt FOB, but are careful to point out that trading activity has been almost nil for a few weeks. Even as activity is down, sources said supply is tight. International traders report that they are even having trouble getting a counter offer to their bids for material for the global market.
The export duties of RMB100/mt (US$14.37/mt) on DAP and MAP and the 5 percent duty on TSP and SSP were scrapped by the Chinese government effective Jan. 1.