Shreveport, La. — The unusual theft of four fully-stocked fertilizer trucks –from a single owner – Tuesday, June 30, is believed by some law officers to be part of thrill-seeking adventure by young law breakers. “For the past month or so we have seen an uptick of crimes where young people, juveniles mostly, have been stealing (vehicles) from businesses for joyriding,” reported Shreveport police spokesman Cpl. Marcus Hines. But the latest incident, which occurred at Growing Solutions, was more than a joyride. All four vehicles were taken from the fertilizer business across the river at Bossier City. Two of them were soon located and returned to their owner. But another forced closure of an important bridge when the vehicle apparently struck a railing and was abandoned, leaking liquid fertilizer on the roadway (GM July 7, p. 11). “The occupants jumped out and left the truck in gear, hitting a corner of the bridge. The tank was ruptured in the process and spilled a minimal amount of fluid liquid urea,” reported Brett McAnn, Growing Solutions co-owner. When all the trucks were accounted for they had been stripped of equipment, including spreaders, backpacks, fertilizer, fungicide, and weed controls. Five individuals were believed involved driving the trucks and a getaway car.
U.S. Gulf: The market continues to be called $340/st FOB, with buyers eyeing $330/st FOB for the next round of business.
CF was reported to have exported an 8,000 mt cargo to Central America. Sources said this should give them some breathing room with respect to inventories.
May imports were up 2 percent, to 104,117 st from the year-ago 101,586 st. July-May imports were off 35 percent, however, to 575,233 st from the year-ago 883,143 st.
Western Cornbelt: The ammonium nitrate market continued to be quoted at $400-$405/st FOB for the last business, although inventories were tight. Sources reported some late-season demand in the Caruthersville, Mo., market in early July.
California: No prices were reported for agricultural ammonium nitrate in California.
CAN-17 was pegged at $325-$345/st FOB in California, depending on location and supplier.
Calamco’s AN-20 posting fell on July 1 to $280/st DEL, down $35/st from the April 1 reference price.
Pacific Northwest: No prices were reported for agricultural ammonium nitrate in the Pacific Northwest.
CAN-17 was pegged at $338/st FOB Kennewick, and $348/st rail-DEL in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Utah, and northern Nevada.
AN-20 was quoted at $260/st FOB Kennewick and $270/st rail-DEL in the region.
U.S. Gulf: No new business was reported last week to test the market, leaving the last done business in the $230-$240/st ($7.19-$7.50/unit) FOB range. Sellers were now quoting in the $245-$255/st FOB range, with buyers obviously hoping to at least hold pricing at last done levels. Sources said a large quantity of product was sold at lower levels and buyers are not that anxious to buy right now, especially with higher quotes.
The last done East Coast vessel business continues to be called $250/mt CFR, though sellers are eyeing higher numbers in the $260-$265/mt CFR range.
May imports were down 22 percent, to 318,059 st from the year-ago 409,047 st. July-May imports were off 24 percent, to 2.8 million st from the year-ago 3.67 million st.
Eastern Cornbelt: The UAN market remained at $8.91-$10.00/unit FOB terminals in the region, with the low quoted at $285/st FOB for UAN-32 out of the Cincinnati market.
Western Cornbelt: The UAN-32 market remained in a broad range at $285-$320/st ($8.91-$10.00/unit) FOB in the Western Cornbelt, depending on location and time of delivery, with the low reported in southern Missouri.
California: Sources talked of short UAN supplies in the state, with good movement reported. The dealer market for UAN-32 was pegged at $315-$325/st FOB ($9.84-$10.16/unit) FOB terminals in California, although some sources said they expect lower prices when incoming rail tons arrive to replenish inventories.
Delivered UAN-32 was quoted in a broad range at $315-$355/st ($9.84-$11.09/unit), with the low for railed tons in the Central Valley and the upper end for truck-DEL product. Agrium’s UAN-32 postings in California moved on July 1 to $320/st ($10.00/unit) FOB Woodland; $325/st ($10.16/unit) FOB Richvale; $335/st ($10.47/unit) FOB West Sacramento; and $365/st ($11.41/unit) truck-DEL.
Pacific Northwest: The UAN-32 market was quoted in a broad range at $350-$375/st ($10.94-$11.72/unit) DEL in the Pacific Northwest, depending on location and supplier, with the low end of the range reflecting a $20/st drop from last report.
Agrium’s UAN-32 postings in the Pacific Northwest moved on July 1 to $345/st ($10.78/unit) FOB Kennewick, Wash.; $350-$355/st ($10.94-$11.09/unit) DEL in Washington, northern Idaho, and central, northeastern, and northwestern Oregon; $360/st ($11.25/unit) DEL in Montana, with UAN-28 posted at $306/st ($10.93/unit) DEL in Montana; $360-$380/st ($11.25-$11.88/unit) DEL in southern Oregon and southern Idaho; and $380/st ($11.88/unit) DEL in the Klamath Basin sales area.
Western Canada: UAN-28 had reportedly slipped to $335-$350/mt ($11.96-$12.50/unit) DEL in Western Canada, down $40/mt from last report, and a full $110/mt below spring pricing levels.
U.S. Gulf: Most last week were putting prompt granular that was ready to go in the $380-$385/st FOB range. While some said sellers were quoting as high as $414/st FOB, business at those levels could not be confirmed, and buyers said last week that they could not make those numbers work. Product out a few weeks was called $350/st FOB.
New trades for August were called $330-$335/st FOB, though market bears were in disagreement, seeing an influx of imports putting August under pressure. Their price ideas were more in line with $315-$320/st FOB.
Prills remained stable at $335-$340/st FOB.
May urea imports were up 32 percent, to 633,992 st from the year-ago 481,953 st. July-May imports are still off, however, dropping 10 percent to 7.24 million st from the year-ago 8.01 million st.
Eastern Cornbelt: The granular urea market was steady at $420-$445/st FOB regional terminals in the Eastern Cornbelt, with tapped out inventories at numerous locations in early July.
Western Cornbelt: Sources quoted the dealer market for urea at $420-$440/st FOB regional terminals for limited tons in the Western Cornbelt, with movement on rice still underway in parts of southern Missouri.
California: The granular urea market had reportedly slipped to $425-$450/st FOB in California, depending on location and supplier, with the low end representing Agrium’s July 1 posting FOB Hanford. Agrium’s July 1 reference price at East Stockton was $485/st FOB.
Delivered urea pricing covered a broad range in the region, depending on location and point of origin. Effective July 1, Agrium’s truck-delivered urea postings in the state moved to $395/st in Central California and $405/st in Northern California from West Sacramento; $465/st in Central California from Hanford; and $535/st in Central California and $540/st in Northern California from East Stockton.
Pacific Northwest: The granular urea market FOB Portland, Ore., had reportedly slipped to $420-$430/st FOB, down $10/st from last report and a full $50/st below May pricing levels. Delivered urea was pegged at $440-$450/st in the Pacific Northwest, down roughly $25/st from last report.
Agrium’s July 1 granular urea postings in the Pacific Northwest included $435/st FOB Pella, Ida., $440/st FOB West Woodburn, Ore., and $445/st FOB Washington warehouses at Glade, Wilson, Plymouth, Moses Lake, and Warden. Agrium’s delivered urea postings moved on July 1 to $440/st DEL in southern Idaho; $440-$445/st DEL in Montana; $445/st DEL in northern Wyoming; $450/st DEL in northern Idaho, Oregon, Washington, northern Nevada, and northern and central Utah; and $455/st DEL in southern Utah.
Agrium’s urea postings in Alaska moved on July 1 to $550-$600/st DEL, depending on location.
Western Canada: The granular urea market was pegged at $520-$545/mt DEL in Western Canada. Sources said summer fill offers that were available at sub-$500/mt levels for a period in June were no longer on the table last week.
India: India Potash Ltd. (IPL) issued a tender last week to close July 16, with offers valid until July 19. Sources say the short time between the closing of the tender and the validity date indicates IPL wants to move quickly on issuing awards and getting urea moving to the country.
The tender calls for shipment by the end of August. Sources say the industry is expecting congestion in Chinese ports later this month and into August. One trader said tender winners will need as much time as possible to book their berthing times to meet the shipping deadline.
The call came about a week earlier than expected. Sources speculate that the closing of the tender was timed to match the final v
U.S. Gulf/Tampa: The Tampa and NOLA markets remained quiet again last week.
U.S. anhydrous ammonia imports in May were down 21 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, dropping to 488,113 st from the year-ago 618,804 st. July-May imports were off 22 percent, at 5.18 million st from the year-ago 6.64 million st.
August NYMEX continued to fall last week, closing July 10 at $4.120/mmBtu, compared to July 2’s close of $4.357/mmBtu.
Eastern Cornbelt: At least three tornados were confirmed in northeastern Ohio on July 8 as strong thunderstorms moved across the state. The storms did some structural and crop damage, but no injuries were reported.
Crop conditions remained favorable in the Eastern Cornbelt in early July, thanks to plentiful rains that left all three states in drought-free status last week. USDA placed 75-80 percent of the regional corn crop in the good or excellent categories last week, along with 70-75 percent of the soybeans.
Sources reported minimal changes to the fertilizer markets last week.
The anhydrous ammonia market remained at $580-$650/st FOB in the region, depending on location and time of delivery.
Western Cornbelt: Anhydrous ammonia was steady at $570-$615/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, with delivered tons from southern production points quoted in the low $600s/st in Missouri.
At least 11 tornadoes were reported in Iowa on July 6, with confirmed sightings across a range of locations in northern and central areas of the state. The storms also brought heavy rainfall to some areas, followed by hot, muggy weather for much of the rest of the week.
USDA assigned good or excellent ratings to fully 76-81 percent of Missouri’s corn and soybeans last week, compared with 73-76 percent in Iowa and 72-73 percent in Nebraska. Missouri’s rice crop was 65 percent good or excellent with 5 percent of the crop headed by July 5, while cotton acres in the state were reported at 58 percent good or excellent.
The U.S. Drought Monitor continued to show rapidly diminishing drought conditions in the region last week, with only abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions reported across central Nebraska and western Missouri. Iowa was essentially drought-free in early July.
California: Effective July 1, Calamco’s ammonia postings in California fell to $655/st DEL for anhydrous and $179/st FOB for aqua, down from the company’s previous list prices of $720/st DEL and $195/st FOB, respectively.
California posted its third driest water year on record on June 30, with measuring stations across the state reporting just 38-53 percent of normal precipitation since July 1, 2013, depending on location. This follows the state’s 17th driest water year for the 2012/13 season, and the 19th driest for the 2011/12 season.
As a result, the U.S. Drought Monitor continued to show extreme to exceptional drought conditions present across roughly 75 percent of the state, with only a portion of southern California falling in the lesser “severe” drought category last week. The drought has also contributed to an active and early wildfire season in the state.
Gov. Jerry Brown issued an emergency drought proclamation in January, and followed that with an executive order in April to establish voluntary water restrictions in the state to cut usage by 20 percent. The State Water Resources Control Board, however, will consider draft emergency regulations in mid-July requiring urban water agencies to implement mandatory restrictions on outdoor water use.
The restrictions would not impact agriculture or indoor water use, but the board said it will consider additional steps as the drought continues. The board has already adopted a different se
Rawalpindi, Pakistan — Fauji Fertilizer Co. CEO Naeem Khalid Lodhi said the company has formed a consortium with foreign companies to invest at least $1.25 billion in a fertilizer plant in Africa, according to an interview with Bloomberg. While a site has not been announced, Lodhi hopes to begin construction in 18-24 months. Lodhi cited limited gas supplies in Pakistan as a reason for the move. Pakistan’s Fatima Group is involved in a plan to build a new nitrogen plant in Indiana.
Vernal, Utah — Democratic state senate candidate Wayne Stevens is focusing his campaign around a proposed Agrium Inc. mine in Vernal, Utah, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. Stevens is apparently building upon a 2012 open house in which some 300 residents voiced their opposition to a possible mine, fearing that it would damage their water supply (GM April 9, 2012). While Agrium took mine samples last year, the company told Green Markets it is still evaluating the economics of the mine and that regardless, any new surface mine on its leasehold there would be years into the future. A phosphate mine has long been proposed for Vernal (GM Sept. 19, 2005), however, the economics have not worked in the past due its distance – 250 miles from Agrium’s Soda Springs phosphate plant. Previous owner John Archer even sued Agrium, trying to force the company to take rock from the mine. Agrium is actively looking to source phosphate rock so as to have rock in place when its seven-year supply agreement with OCP for the Redwater, Alberta, plant expires. However, the company does have leaseholds closer to its existing plants, and there are junior companies with closer rock vying for its attention.
Austin — Political squabbling over AN in Texas has also ratcheted up on another front. Texas Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott, who earlier this year directed several state agencies to stop disclosing to the public the location of sites that store AN in the state (GM June 23, p. 13), has faced criticism after media reports revealed that Abbot received more than $75,000 in campaign donations in 2013 from political interests affiliated with Koch Industries, including a $25,000 contribution from first-time donor Chase Koch, president of Koch Fertilizer and son of Koch Industries CEO Charles Koch. The Dallas Morning News first ran the story on July 1, also reporting that Abbott rode on a company jet to a Koch-related retreat in New Mexico in 2013 to meet wealthy donors. The newspaper followed that with a story on July 3 in which a Koch Industries spokesman denied any connection between the campaign contributions and Abbott’s ruling, and criticized the earlier story for creating “a vague and improbably quid-pro-quo linkage.” Abbott cited terrorism risks and the Texas Homeland Protection law of 2003 as the reason for his decision to prevent the Texas State Health Services Department (SHSD) and the Office of the Texas State Chemist to release AN storage information to the public, though the information is still available to fire departments and first responders. Critics of the decision say Texas law requires businesses that store AN to file Tier II reports with their local fire departments and the SHSD, and that this information should be available to the public under the Community Right-to Know Act. Abbott’s Democratic opponent in the gubernatorial race, Wendy Davis, has used the revelation to attack Abbott, and vowed to strengthen the Community Right-to-Know law if she is elected. Davis also said she would make Tier II chemical information availability an emergency legislative item during her first week in office.
Austin — Texas State Rep. Joe Pickett (D-El Paso) on July 2 introduced a draft bill that would make the first changes to ammonium nitrate storage requirements in Texas since the 2013 fire and explosion at West Fertilizer Co. in West, Texas. Pickett is chair of the Texas House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee, and his proposed legislation would adopt national fire code standards for storing AN in Texas, which require noncombustible storage facilities or fire sprinklers. The bill also gives inspection and enforcement power over AN storage facilities to the State Fire Marshal’s Office, and gives additional inspection authority to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and local volunteer fire departments. Picket described the legislation as “minimal,” noting that it focuses only on AN rather than mandating a statewide fire code, and also gives facilities three years to comply. The bill drew criticism from some Republican lawmakers, however, including Reps. Dan Flynn (R-Canton) and George Lavender (R-Texarkana), who said it would be too costly for businesses and would be viewed as regulatory overreach by the TCEQ. Pickett said he hopes to file some version of the bill when the next legislative session convenes in January 2015.
U.S. Imports: May imports were up 25 percent, to 40,599 st from the year-ago 32,470 st. July-May imports were up 23 percent, to 378,889 st from 309,194 st.
Eastern Cornbelt: Granular ammonium sulfate remained at $290-$305/st FOB in the region, depending on location.
Ammonium thiosulfate was steady at $345-$360/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt.
Western Cornbelt: Granular ammonium sulfate remained at $280-$290/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt.
Ammonium thiosulfate was steady at $315-$325/st FOB in the region.
California: Ammonium sulfate was quoted at $245-$280/st FOB in California, depending on location, grade, and supplier.
Ammonium thiosulfate remained at $300/st FOB Stockton.
Pacific Northwest: Granular ammonium sulfate was pegged at $245-$265/st FOB and $255-$275/st DEL in the Pacific Northwest, depending on location, although higher postings were in effect from some suppliers.
Effective July 1, Agrium’s granular ammonium sulfate postings moved to $318/st FOB and $323/st DEL in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Nevada. Agrium’s granular ammonium sulfate posting in Montana and northern Wyoming also moved to the $323/st DEL level on July 1.
Ammonium thiosulfate remained at $310-$330/st FOB in the region, with delivered tons pegged at the $345/st level in Washington.
Western Canada: Granular ammonium sulfate was reported at $400-$405/mt DEL in Western Canada, down $75/mt from spring pricing levels.
Disclaimer of Warranty
All information has been obtained by Green Markets from sources believed to be reliable. However, because of the possibility of human or mechanical error by our sources, Green Markets or others, Green Markets does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information.
