All Posts from March 10, 2014

Ammonium Sulfate

Ammonium Sulfate, California, Eastern Cornbelt, Market Watch, Pacific N.W., Western Canada, Western Cornbelt

Eastern Cornbelt: Granular ammonium sulfate was unchanged at $270-$280/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, with the low in Illinois and the upper end reported in Indiana and Ohio.

Effective March 1, Honeywell’s ammonium sulfate postings firmed to $280/st FOB Granite City and Mapleton, Ill., and $285/st FOB Danville, Ill. Honeywell’s mid-grade ammonium sulfate postings moved up on that date to $250/st FOB Byron, Ill., and $255/st FOB Danville.

The ammonium thiosulfate market remained at $335/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt.

Western Cornbelt: The granular ammonium sulfate market continued to be quoted at $265-$275/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt. Effective March 1, Honeywell’s ammonium sulfate postings firmed to $280/st FOB Dubuque, Iowa, and $285/st FOB Omaha, Neb.

The ammonium thiosulfate market was pegged at $310-$355/st FOB, with the low in Iowa and the upper end in Missouri.

California: Ammonium sulfate remained at $250-$285/st FOB in California, with the low in Lathrop and the upper end FOB El Centro.

Ammonium thiosulfate was unchanged at $300/st FOB Stockton.

Pacific Northwest: The granular ammonium sulfate market was quoted at $245-$280/st FOB and $255-$285/st DEL in the region. Sources said they expect that market to firm again as the spring season gets into gear.

Effective Feb. 19, Agrium’s granular ammonium sulfate postings in the Pacific Northwest firmed to $295/st DEL in Montana and Wyoming, and $290/st FOB warehouse and $295/st DEL in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Nevada. Those prices were up $10/st from Agrium’s Feb. 12 postings.

On Feb. 21, Agrium increased its ammonium sulfate postings again, moving up $40/st to $335/st DEL in Montana and Wyoming, and $330/st FOB and $335/st DEL in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Nevada.

IRM’s Feb. 27 postings for Tranzform and WesternPremium ammonium sulfate included $265/st FOB and $275/st DEL in Oregon, Washington, and northern Idaho, and $245/st FOB and $255/st DEL in southern Idaho and Montana.
Ammonium thiosulfate was unchanged at $310-$330/st FOB in the Pacific Northwest.

Western Canada: Granular ammonium sulfate pricing had moved up $10/mt from last report, with sources quoting the Western Canada market at $475-$480/mt DEL.

Agrium rebrands precision ag business

News, News Briefs

Calgary — Agrium Inc. said March 3 that it has opted to rebrand its precision agriculture business as “Echelon,” formerly NutriScription HD. Agrium has been in the precision ag field for over a decade. Agrium’s North American-based Crop Production Services retail business currently provides precision ag services on over 15 million acres throughout North America. The Echelon portfolio includes soil sampling, variable rate nutrient and seeding recommendations, yield data analysis, weather monitoring, field scouting and tissue sampling, aerial imagery analysis, record keeping and reporting. Agrium says Echelon’s compatibility with most major equipment and controller manufacturers enables growers to access and act on their data from one system. Echelon is currently available in the US and Canada. “Agrium holds a unique position as the largest agriculture retailer of products and services to growers in the U.S., Canada, Australia and South America. We service over 500,000 growers globally and provide products and services for hundreds of different crops. We intend to continue to expand on our position as the leading provider of agronomic advice, and our Echelon platform provides the grower with the very latest technological tools and advice to help them maximize productivity and profitability from their operations,” said Chuck Magro, Agrium president and CEO.

Brandt – Management Brief

News, News Briefs

Evelyn Brandt Thomas, 90, co-founder of Brandt®, Springfield, Ill., will receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the Springfield campus of the University of Illinois on May 17, 2014. “Evelyn has been an inspiration for women and men in business for decades,” said UIS Chancellor Susan J. Koch. “In addition to her success and leadership in business, her widespread philanthropy and sustained community service have contributed to the quality of life for all who live and work in the Springfield community.”

In the early 1950s, Evelyn and her brother, Glen, started a fertilizer business to supplement the family’s income on the farm. Evelyn managed the books while Glen ran the business, selling and applying anhydrous ammonia. Over the course of 60 years, Evelyn and Glen have remained active in the family business, which has grown to become Brandt, an international company, with sales in 48 states and 45 countries. Brandt is now one of Springfield’s largest employers. In 2012, the company was named to Inc. Magazine’s list of 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies with over $400 million in revenue.

Brandt Thomas continues to perform an active role in the business, serving as Secretary-Treasurer and going to work nearly every day.

SFP® – Management Brief

News, News Briefs

SFP®, an agricultural company that has developed a line of products to improve fertilizer efficiency, is expanding staff across its sales and marketing departments. Ryan Barham, Nate Fairbanks, Aaron Hunsinger, Steve Sloan, and Chad Wammack are new regional managers. They will be responsible for territory sales and product education, as well as building relationships with growers, retailers, and distributors. Klaire Madden has joined the branded dealer team, and Terri Bryant and Jason Yates have joined the marketing department. “Ryan, Nate, Aaron, Steve, and Chad bring a wealth of agronomic experience and knowledge to our team of fertilizer efficiency experts,” said Reggie Underwood, SFP national sales manager. “Each will play a fundamental role in increasing the level of service and attention to customers in their trade areas.” Headquartered in Leawood, Kan., SFP’s product offerings – AVAIL® Phosphorus Fertilizer Enhancer, NutriSphere-N® Nitrogen Fertilizer Manager, and More Than Manure® (MTM®) Nutrient Manager – are formulated to be added to a farmer’s existing fertilizer to improve availability of the nutrients.

Innophos Holdings Inc. – Management Brief

News, News Briefs

Innophos Holdings Inc. has named Robert Harrer as vice president and CFO. He has over 20 years of experience in various global financial leadership positions, most recently as CFO and chief administrative officer for Avantor Performance Materials. He has also worked with Rohm and Haas, SKW Trostberg AG, and Alcatel. Harrer holds a Master of Business Administration and Mathematics from Albert Einstein University in Ulm, Germany.

Five Star Co-op invests $9M in northern Iowa

News, News Briefs

New Hampton, Iowa — Five Star Cooperative plans to invest about $9.7 million on three projects in northern Iowa. Five Star confirmed to Green Markets that work has begun on a $8.2 million dry fertilizer plant in Joice that will include 22,000 tons of dry fertilizer storage and raise storage capacity to 2 million gallons for liquid fertilizer. In addition, Five Star is planning a $1.2 million soybean facility project in Hanlontown and a $300,000 project in Scarville for an unmanned gas station.

Sulfur

Market Watch, Sulfur, Tampa, U.S. Gulf, Vancouver, West Coast

Tampa: Weather-related issues continued to plague the sulfur market, with transit difficulties and mechanical troubles the most prevalent.

Railcar deliveries extended already significant delays to up to 200 percent of normal delivery windows. On the supply side, a Syncrude refinery outage has gone unresolved for nearly the entire first quarter. Production was originally scheduled to resume around Feb. 14, but the facility remained closed as of last week, with mechanical complications rumored to be the cause. Despite the loss of an estimated 1,000 mt of sulfur produced per day on average by the refinery, sources said the market has not been substantially affected.

EPA announced new Tier 3 regulations of sulfur in gasoline beginning in 2017, mandating the reduction of sulfur levels to a third of previous totals. Despite speculation that Tier 3 could lead to an increase in sulfur hitting the market, sources didn’t see the change affecting volume in any considerable way. “We’re talking about a small move from 30 ppm to 10 ppm,” one source said.

A bigger concern may be the cost to refineries, thought to be sizable given the level of sophistication required to remove such a high degree of sulfur. U.S. refineries are currently profitable and should be able to absorb the costs now, sources said, but the expenditures necessary to effect the switch could be more difficult to bear should sulfur market conditions deteriorate at some point in the future.

U.S. refinery outputs fell slightly for the week ending Feb. 28, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Operating rates dropped to 87.4 percent from 88.0 percent the week before, a 0.6 percent decrease. The rate was ahead of the 82.2 percent reported in the same week of 2013, and was significantly higher than the five-year average of 83.4 percent.

The price of molten sulfur delivered to Tampa was $110/lt for the first quarter.

U.S. Gulf: Gulf prill, long stagnant at sub-market prices due to a dearth of trading activity, rose to an estimated $150-$160/mt FOB based on current domestic and international market conditions.

Vancouver: Spot prices in the Vancouver sulfur market were unchanged last week, quoted in a range of $160-$180/mt FOB. Sources speculated the international market – a driving force behind price increases in the North American market – may have hit a price ceiling, though snug supply could keep levels from dropping off substantially until the market finds broader price agreement.

The price of sulfur from Alberta was unchanged in a range of (-)30-(+)37/mt.

West Coast: The price of West Coast sulfur remained in a range of $150-$165/mt FOB.

Benelux: The first-quarter Benelux price was $130-$144/mt.

ADNOC: The ADNOC price for March rose to $200/mt FOB, up $20/mt from the previous $180/mt FOB.

Potash

California, Eastern Cornbelt, India, Market Watch, Pacific N.W., Potash Muriate, U.S. Gulf, Western Canada, Western Cornbelt

U.S. Gulf: Potash barge prices remained at $317-$320/st FOB.

Eastern Cornbelt: Potash was quoted at $370/st FOB for red granular and $377/st FOB for white granular in the Eastern Cornbelt region.

Western Cornbelt: Although producer postings remained at $370-$377/st FOB in the region, most sources reported the potash market last week at $350/st FOB for red granular and $357/st FOB for white. The Tulsa potash market was also quoted in the $350-$355/st FOB range last week.

California: Potash pricing was pegged at $485-$494/st FOB or DEL in California.

The sulfate of potash (SOP) market remained at $660-$680/st FOB in California.

Crystalline potassium nitrate remained at $950/st FOB for bulk and $1,020/st FOB for bags.

Pacific Northwest: Sources quoted the potash market at $435-$445/st rail-DEL or FOB in the Pacific Northwest. Potash pricing FOB Utah mines was quoted at $400-$405/st for new orders.

The K-Mag market remained at $451-$471/st FOB in the Pacific Northwest.

Western Canada: Sources quoted the potash market at $379/mt FOB Saskatchewan mines to Canadian customers. Warehouse prices in the region remained at $400-$420/mt FOB, depending on location.

India: Reports that India will slash the subsidy for potash by 20 percent were met with a certain amount of skepticism from international traders.

One source noted that while the Indian government has been working hard to reduce subsidy payments for all fertilizers, a 20 percent cut in potash is unlikely. A trader said the most likely reason for the announcement was to put pressure on the potash suppliers.

Last year India imported 4 million mt of potash. Its major suppliers were PCS, Mosaic, Agrium, Uralkali, Arab Potash, and Israel Chemicals.

The sliding value of the rupee against the dollar has forced the Indian government into a number of actions that have not pleased farmers. Imports are being lowered, subsidies reduced, and prices raised.

Also complicating the issue is the announcement that national elections will start April 7. Political pressure to maintain the current level of subsidies could increase as voting day nears, said one source.

For now the subsidy issue on potash is being debated within government panels. A decision will have to be made by the end of the month. April 1 marks the beginning of the new fiscal year.

Phosphates

Asia, California, Central Florida, China, Eastern Cornbelt, Market Watch, North Africa, Pacific N.W., Phosphate Rock, U.S. Exports, U.S. Gulf, Western Canada, Western Cornbelt

Central Florida: The Central Florida phosphate market continued its recent slow streak, depressed in part by end-users awaiting workable fertilizing conditions before making new purchases. With substantial snowpack still reported on the ground in many regions supplied by Central Florida, relief wasn’t immediately in sight. The planting season in Florida was said to be proceeding on schedule, however.

Limited truckloads of DAP were sold at a reported $460/st FOB, and a small number of railcar sales out the state were quoted at $450/st FOB. Mosaic’s posted price was steady at $450/st FOB, with MAP listed at $20/st FOB more.

Cold weather continued to wreak havoc on shipments into the Northeast and Midwest, with product moved by rail reportedly taking twice as long as normal to reach some destinations.

With heavy snowpack present in many Northeast locales, it remains to be seen what effect the accumulated snow will have on underlying soils still parched from long-term precipitation shortfalls.

Rainfall on the Gulf Coast shrank zones of pre-drought in Alabama and Florida, adding to precipitation totals reportedly at just 73 percent of normal through Mar. 1. Looking ahead, the Drought Monitor forecast five-day rainfall totals of 1 to 3 inches in the Deep South.

The price of DAP sold in Central Florida was unchanged at $450-$460/st FOB, based on actual transactions and Mosaic’s posted price. MAP was offered at a $5-$10/st FOB premium to DAP, though no transactions were found.

U.S. Gulf: The NOLA barge market saw prices continue to drift southward, while end-users pined for more favorable weather.

Early week transactions of $475-$480/st FOB were reported for DAP, while a confirmed sale of $485/st FOB was made late in the week. Rumors of $490/st FOB transactions were floated but went unconfirmed, and a barge offered at $484/st FOB drew no interest on Thursday.

MAP found a foothold for the first time in weeks, drawing renewed interest with transactions of $490/st FOB and $494/st FOB.

Sources attributed the slide in DAP prices largely to the weather, which remained “painfully cold,” as one source said, but few expected the decline to continue indefinitely.

“Prices are still hanging in there,” a source said. “Everyone knows spring is ahead of us, and everyone knows the (phosphate) in transit won’t get here before spring.”

Conditions on the river were difficult, with high water levels on the lower Mississippi River, low levels near St. Louis, and lots of ice. But transit improved somewhat as locks reopened for the spring in Wisconsin, northern Missouri, and southern Illinois. Rock removal at Thebes, Ill., now said to have reached 50 percent completion, was sporadic due to high water. The estimated completion time for repairs to the main chamber of the Melvin Price Lock was extended indefinitely from the previous June timeline.

Transit through Spanish Moss on the lower Mississippi was off limits during daylight hours, and Industrial Lock in the New Orleans area continued to experience delays of 25-30 hours.

The 4 p.m. snapshot of the commodities market on March 6 showed a sharp spike in corn and wheat prices resulting from uncertainty in Ukraine, while soybean futures were up as well.

For May 2014, corn was $4.91/bushel, up from $4.545/bushel in the previous report. The July 2014 price for corn was put at $4.9525/bushel, and trading of December 2014 corn contracts checked in at $4.8925/bushel, down from the previous week’s $4.61/bushel.

The May 2014 soybean price was $14.38/bushel, up from $13.90/bushel a week earlier. July 2014 soybeans were listed at $14.095/bushel. Soybeans for November 2014 were posted at $11.86/bushel, a rise from $11.555/bushel the week before.

Wheat for May 2014

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