All Posts from October 14, 2013

Urea

Bangladesh, Black Sea, China, Eastern Cornbelt, Great Lakes, India, Indonesia, Market Watch, Middle East, Northeast, Northern Plains, Pakistan, U.S. Gulf, Urea, Western Cornbelt

U.S. Gulf: Prompt granular barges were in transition last week, with most sources saying it was too late to get a sitting barge up the river in time to beat the river’s close. As a result, barges were called $283-$290/st FOB, with the higher number for earlier shipments and the lower for later October. Sources said barges already en route up the river were $293-$295/st FOB.

There were reports of November barges starting to fall into the $270s/st FOB, with sources noting that some of this may represent Chinese material.

Prills continued to be called $300-$310/st FOB.

Eastern Cornbelt: The low end of the regional urea market remained at $320/st FOB Cincinnati, Ohio, and other river locations. The upper end of the regional market was pegged at $340-$350/st FOB inland, with the top end of the range reported FOB Maumee, Ohio.

Western Cornbelt: Granular urea pricing was steady at $320-$335/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, depending on location. Urea was reportedly in tight supply in the Tulsa, Okla., market, with dealer pricing there reported at $330-$335/st FOB last week.

Northern Plains: The granular urea market was steady at $330-$335/st FOB the Twin Cities. North Dakota sources quoted the delivered market in the high $360s/st, with the Carrington price reported at the $370/st FOB level.

Great Lakes: Granular urea pricing in the Great Lakes region was down from last report. Wisconsin sources pegged the low end of the range at $330/st FOB on a spot basis, while Michigan sources quoted dealer pricing last week at $350-$360/st FOB, depending on location. Those prices were down approximately $15/st from mid-September pricing levels.

Northeast: Coastal areas from the Mid Atlantic up to southern New England were bracing for rain and wind as the week advanced, with the heaviest precipitation expected in the Delmarva area.

The wet, windy weather was expected to linger through the weekend, with coastal flooding advisories posted for some locations. Areas north of Boston and west of Harrisburg, Penn., however, were likely to remain dry. Harvest activities continued uninterrupted in those locations last week, with excellent yields reported.

Dealers reported some fertilizer work on winter wheat ground in the region, but buying at the retail and wholesale levels remained hand-to-mouth. “We’re just getting it as we need it,” said one Pennsylvania source, adding that weak prices were not motivating sales.

The granular urea market remained at $355/st FOB Fairless, Penn., with the low end of the regional market quoted at $340/st FOB East Liverpool, Ohio, and warehouses in western Pennsylvania.

India: After coming to handshake agreements for almost 1 million mt from its last tender, MMTC settled on taking only 600,000 mt.

Shortly after the tender closed, MMTC was optimistic it would be able to nail down at least a million tons from a variety of sources. In the end, however, suppliers were hesitant to step forward with large-scale commitments.

The Indian buyer issued awards to six companies at prices ranging from $294.99-$299/mt CFR, depending on the port of discharge.

The award schedule follows.

Ameropa – Management Brief

Management Briefs

Ameropa has announced management changes taking effect Jan. 1, 2014. Andreas Zivy will step down from his position as CEO and concentrate on his function as president of the board. Jan Kadanik will take over as CEO. His current responsibilities as CFO will be distributed among several existing and new positions.

Kadanik has been CFO of the Ameropa Group since 2007. He is a graduate of the Prague School of Economics, started his career in metals trading, and subsequently served as director of strategy and finance of the Agrofert group before joining Ameropa.

Sulfur

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

Tampa: Late last week, the Mosaic Co. and PotashCorp completed contracts with all of their sulfur suppliers for new fourth-quarter contract prices, which were down $20/lt from the previous quarter, falling from $95/lt to $75/lt DEL to Tampa. The price change was retroactive to Oct. 1.

The price decline for the fourth quarter was in line with world prices, which have deteriorated sharply during the previous two quarters.

The U.S. Department of Energy was able to post new refinery capacity operating rates last week, despite the federal government shutdown. Refinery rates were put at 86 percent, compared with 86.7 percent a year ago, but higher than the five-year average of 83.19 percent.

Capacity rates were not available the previous week.

U.S. Gulf: The price for Gulf prill was unchanged last week at $60-$65/mt FOB, but exports have fallen off during the past few months. Less was going to prillers, which was boosting supplies of molten sulfur to Tampa, which in turn helped push the Tampa delivered molten price down for the fourth quarter. Gulf prices may decline with the next sale.

Vancouver: Sulfur prices at Vancouver remained in the $50-$70/mt FOB range last week. Sulfur coming from Alberta to the U.S. will likely decline $20/lt in relation to the new Tampa molten price.

Sulfur from oilseeds production will be blocked, but sulfur going to Vancouver will continue to be priced in relation to that market. The impact on Vancouver pricing due to the decrease in the Tampa price was not clear.

West Coast: Sulfur prices on the West Coast were still in line with Vancouver, and remained in the $53-$73/mt FOB range. That may change during the next week or so, however.

Benelux: The Benelux price range for the third quarter was $140-$155/mt. A new fourth-quarter price had not been set as of late last week.

ADNOC: The ADNOC price for October was set at $70/mt FOB, down from the previous month’s $80/mt FOB. The price for November was posted at $60/mt FOB.

Potash

Eastern Cornbelt, Great Lakes, Market Watch, Northeast, Northern Plains, Potash Muriate, U.S. Gulf, Western Cornbelt

U.S. Gulf: The last done potash barge business continued to be called $345-$350/st FOB, but buyers continued to hammer the market for lower numbers.

Eastern Cornbelt: Sources quoted the potash market at $380-$390/st FOB regional warehouses, reflecting another slight drop from last report, with the low end reported out of the Cincinnati market and in Illinois on a spot basis.

Western Cornbelt: Potash continued to be quoted at $380-$395/st FOB regional warehouses in the Western Cornbelt.

Northern Plains: Potash pricing had reportedly slipped to $382-$385/st FOB Minnesota warehouses, down some $5-$8/st from last report, while rail-delivered tons remained at the $400/st mark in North Dakota.

While sources put the potash market FOB Saskatchewan mines as low as $350/st based on netbacks, the official market FOB Saskatchewan mines to U.S. customers remained at $355/st for standard grade, $360/st for granular, and $367/st for soluble and white granular.

Great Lakes: Wisconsin sources quoted the granular potash market at $385-$390/st FOB last week, down some $10-$15/st from last report. In Michigan, the dealer market had reportedly slipped to $385/st FOB for red granular and $392/st FOB for white granular potash.

Northeast: The regional potash market was slipping in the Northeast, with sources quoting the Baltimore market at $382-$386/st FOB, down $10-$15/st from last report. Rail-delivered potash was pegged at the $400/st level in the region.

Phosphates

Central Florida, Eastern Cornbelt, Great Lakes, Market Watch, Northeast, Northern Plains, Phosphate Rock, U.S. Exports, U.S. Gulf, Western Cornbelt

Central Florida: Dealers in the eastern U.S. continued to be overly cautious in their purchases of phosphate products last week, with most relying on trucks to bring material to feed their nearly empty bins.

Meanwhile, railcar and truck prices for phosphate from Central Florida were down last week, dropping to levels closer to NOLA prices for barges. However, the cost of shipping by rail is significantly higher than for barges, so the price would have to fall even more before it becomes competitive.

Harvesting continued in the nation last week, but it was not clear exactly how large yields were or how many acres had been harvested because the publication of USDA’s weekly and monthly crop reports was put on hold during the government shutdown.

The Central Florida DAP market was pegged at $380-$390/st FOB last week, down from $410st FOB the previous week. With little business being done in either the international or domestic markets, prices appeared to be weakening.

MAP prices continued to bring a $20/st premium over DAP in the Central Florida market.

U.S. Gulf: Despite what may be a record or near-record harvest coming in from some areas of the Cornbelt, business on the river system was extremely quiet last week and few trades were concluded.

Activity at warehouses was definitely on the upswing, however, and prices were starting to firm. Meanwhile, heavy precipitation in some key areas that feed the Mississippi River was expected to significantly raise water levels on the river, by as much as 10 feet at Memphis. Both that city and Blytheville, Ark., were having loading problems as a result of the low water levels.

Regardless, the Mississippi River was getting very close to closing for the winter season, and barge companies will soon decline to send vessels north and risk having them spend the winter months out of service.

Farmers were wondering how to price their crops because USDA had not issued its monthly report for October due to the government shutdown. There are several private organizations that also provide estimates, but farmers rely more heavily on USDA’s report to make their decisions on crop prices.

On the futures market, prices for corn were down a little from the previous week, soybeans were mixed, and prices for wheat were either up or flat, depending on the period.

Corn for December 2013 was $4.3825/bushel, down slightly from $4.3925/bushel the previous week, while corn for December 2014 moved to $4.8025/bushel from the prior week’s $4.8075/bushel.

The soybean price for November 2013 was $12.88/bushel, almost flat with the previous week’s $12.8825 bushel, while soybeans for November 2014 firmed slightly, to $11.7225/bushel from the prior week’s $11.70/bushel.

Wheat for December 2013 remained at $7.555/bushel, the same as the previous week, while wheat for July 2014 firmed slightly, to $7.385/bushel from $7.3125/bushel the previous week. Wheat for July 2015 was also up, at $7.1925/bushel compared with $7.1550/bushel at last report.

Warehouse and terminal DAP prices were reported in the $410-$430/st FOB range, depending on location, with MAP running approximately$20-$25/st FOB higher. The price gap between the two will likely shrink as fresh OCP product, imported by Koch and Helm, flows into the market.

The NOLA DAP barge price range for the week came in at a narrow $374-$376/st FOB, compared with the previous week’s $372-$380/st FOB range. NOLA MAP barges were in the $391-$393/st FOB range last week, but were anticipated to fall as new imports arrive.

Eastern Cornbelt: Sources reported a slight increase in DAP pricing in the Eastern Cornbelt. The low end of the regional range was reported at $415/st FOB Cincinnati, up $5/st from the previous week, while the upper end rema

Ammonium Sulfate

Ammonium Sulfate, Eastern Cornbelt, Great Lakes, Market Watch, Northeast, Northern Plains, Western Cornbelt

Eastern Cornbelt: Granular ammonium sulfate remained at $270-$280/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, with the upper end quoted out of the Maumee and Burns Harbor markets.

Ammonium thiosulfate was quoted at $340-$355/st FOB, depending on location.

Western Cornbelt: Granular ammonium sulfate was steady at $255-$270/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, depending on location, with the low reported in southern Missouri and the upper end in the Iowa market.

Ammonium thiosulfate was pegged at $310-$345/st FOB in the region.

Northern Plains: Granular ammonium sulfate was pegged at $265-$270/st FOB and $280/st DEL in the Northern Plains. No current prices were reported for ammonium thiosulfate in the region.

Great Lakes: The granular ammonium sulfate market was steady at $278-$285/st FOB in the Great Lakes region, with the low reported in Wisconsin and the Michigan market remaining at $280-$285/st FOB, depending on location.

The ammonium thiosulfate market was pegged at $340-$355/st FOB in the region, with the low FOB Webberville, Mich.

Northeast: Granular ammonium sulfate remained at $275-$280/st DEL in the Northeast, based on FOB pricing at the $250/st level out of Hopewell, Va. The East Liverpool ammonium sulfate market was also quoted at the $280/st FOB mark.

Nitrogen Solutions

Eastern Cornbelt, Great Lakes, Market Watch, Northeast, Northern Plains, UAN, Western Cornbelt

U.S. Gulf: The market remained very quiet at $225-$230/st ($7.03-$7.19/unit) FOB.

Eastern Cornbelt: Illinois sources quoted the UAN-32 market at $280-$288/st ($8.75-$9.00/unit) FOB terminals to the dealer. The low end of the UAN-28 market was tagged at $245-$250/st ($8.75-$8.93/unit) FOB Cincinnati, with the upper end reported at $260/st ($9.29/unit) FOB Burns Harbor, Ind.

Western Cornbelt: The low end of the regional UAN-32 market continued to be quoted at $260-$265/st ($8.13-$8.28/unit) FOB on a spot basis in southern Missouri, but most other terminals in the region were reported in the $275-$295/st ($8.59-$9.22/unit) FOB range last week.

Northern Plains: The UAN-28 market in the Northern Plains was unchanged from last report, with sources quoting the dealer price at $260/st ($9.29/unit) FOB in Minnesota and $290/st ($10.36/unit) DEL in North Dakota.

Great Lakes: UAN pricing was down slightly in the Great Lakes region. Wisconsin sources pegged the dealer market for UAN-32 at $288/st ($9.00/unit) FOB terminals last week, down roughly $7/st from last report, while Michigan contacts reported UAN-28 pricing in the $260-$265/st ($9.26-$9.46/unit) FOB range, depending on location.

Northeast: The UAN-32 market had reportedly slipped to $255-$260/st ($7.97-8.13/unit) FOB Baltimore for prompt tons, down roughly $5/st from last report. The UAN-32 market out of terminals in upstate New York was down as well, to $304/st ($9.50/unit) FOB from the previous $310.40/st ($9.70/unit) dealer market.

Sources reported UAN-32 vessel market indications in the low-to-mid $250s/mt CFR to the East Coast. Interest was picking up in locking in new tons, but sources said little in the way of firm business had reportedly been concluded.

H.J. Baker & Bro. Inc. – Management Brief

Management Briefs

H.J. Baker & Bro. Inc., Westport, Conn., has announced the opening of a new sales office in Guadalajara, Mexico, to meet growing demand in Latin America. It will facilitate sales of sulfur bentonite fertilizer, as well as nutritional supplements for the dairy, poultry, and aquaculture industries. Javier Rodriquez has been named country manager for H.J. Baker & Bro. de Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., located at Guadalajara, and will oversee sales throughout the region.

Rodriquez has been with H.J. Baker for over 10 years and has some 26 years of experiencing trading commodities in Mexico. He began his career with Sumitomo Corp. in Mexico City. He graduated from the National Polytechnical Institute in Mexico City with a Bachelor’s degree in Commercial Relations and International Trade, and received a Masters in Public Administration from American University in Washington, D.C.

H.J. Baker has promoted Nicole Bartlett to the newly created position of director, global marketing. She will design, implement, and direct corporate and divisional marketing objectives on a global basis. She will also be responsible for identifying new target markets and product opportunities, and expanding market share in existing markets. Bartlett joined H.J. Baker in 2012 as director of feed product and market development. She was previously at Alltech Inc., where she held a series of increasingly responsible marketing positions. She holds a B.A. degree in Public Relations and Agriculture from Western Kentucky University.

Bartlett will report directly to Steve Azzarello, executive vice president of sales and marketing, and will work from Louisville.

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Company Quantity (mt)
 US$/mt CFR Discharge Port
Bary Chemicals 120,000 294.99