U.S. Gulf: While buyers last week were still bidding for barges in the sub-$230/st FOB range, most sources are now calling the market higher at $230-$240/st ($7.19-$7.50/unit) FOB.
Eastern Cornbelt: UAN-28 was steady at $250-$260/st ($8.93-$9.29/unit) FOB in Ohio and Indiana, depending on location. Illinois sources continued to report UAN-32 pricing in the $280-$290/st ($8.75-$9.06/unit) FOB range last week.
Western Cornbelt: The UAN-32 market was quoted at $280-$295/st ($8.75-$9.22/unit) FOB in the Western Cornbelt, with the low in southern Missouri and the upper end reported in Iowa.
Southern Plains: The UAN-32 market was quoted at $260-$265/st ($8.13-$8.28/unit) FOB regional production points in the Southern Plains. The dealer market out of terminals on the coastal bend of Texas remained at the $270/st ($8.44/unit) FOB level.
South Central: UAN-32 pricing was up slightly in the South Central region, with sources quoting the dealer market at $275-$280/st ($8.59-$8.75/unit) FOB regional terminals for spot tons.
Southeast: The UAN-32 market remained in the $245-$248/st ($7.66-$7.75/unit) range FOB Norfolk, Va., and Wilmington, N.C., with the Baltimore market pegged at $250-$252/st ($7.81-$7.88/unit) FOB last week.
The UAN-32 vessel market on the East Coast was quoted in the high-$250s/mt CFR.
Loving, N.M. — Emergency responders had to be concerned about buildings containing fertilizer while fighting a fire in a storage building at Questa Fertilizer here Monday evening, Nov. 25. Then there was a problem with water pressure, which was resolved by calling in additional tanker trucks from other departments and redirecting supplies temporarily from some village residents. Wind gusts also raised concerns, and a state highway was closed for most of the evening. The plant, owned by brothers Henry and David McDonald, was closed for the night when the alarm came in. Carlsbad Fire Chief Rick Lopez told Green Markets he had one crew and an assistant chief at the scene joining with volunteer firefighters from Loving, Otis, Malaga, Joel, and La Huerta. "It appeared that the fire started in an area where equipment parts were stored. Kind of a catch-all area. As far as the fertilizer plant itself, it was not affected." While grateful that the fire did not spread to a building containing dry fertilizer and sulfur, the McDonalds told the local press that the fire effectively took them out of the liquid fertilizer business. The loss of equipment and other items to the fire was called significant.
Riverview, Fla. — The Mosaic Co. spokesman David Townsend said the cause of a sulfuric acid vessel explosion on Saturday, Nov. 23, which injured two contract workers, was still unknown and under investigation. Townsend said the blast occurred just before 2 p.m. during a welding job on the tank. One worker was struck by flying debris on the hand and the chest, while a second who was on the ground received an injury to his hand. The worker with the chest injury, who had just stepped onto a platform near the top of the vessel from a cherry picker, was transported to a hospital, while the second worker received first aid at the scene but was taken to a hospital later as a precaution. The two were wearing protective gear at the time of the blast. Townsend said the vessel, which carries vapor, was empty because the phosphate processing plant was down for a turnaround. He said reports that the roof lifted 100 feet could not be verified. Townsend added there were no emissions or other environmental damage from the incident.
Denver-based Intrepid Potash announced on Nov. 26 that it has entered into a contract with United Suppliers Inc. to purchase the Eldora, Iowa, company’s dry fertilizer warehouse in St. Joseph, Mo. Intrepid said the purchase of the 20,000 st facility will support its ag market strategy by transitioning some customers in the region from direct rail shipments to warehouse purchasing.
"The St. Joe location is a strategic distribution asset for us," said Kelvin Feist, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Intrepid. “This warehouse allows us to support our customer base in the region from our geographically-advantaged mines and, in addition, it allows us to add warehouse space to support increased production and meet just-in-time fertilizer demand closer to the farm gate."
The transaction is expected close by the end of the year. United Suppliers, a wholesale organization with some 650 owners across North America, said it will also continue to supply fertilizer to its owners from the St. Joseph warehouse.
"United Suppliers is pleased that Intrepid Potash saw a long-term need for the St. Joe dry shed," said Matt Carstens, vice president with United Suppliers. “The sale of this warehouse to Intrepid makes good sense because of Intrepid’s proximity to this market. It allows United Suppliers to move its strategy forward and support our owners accordingly.”
Feist said Intrepid anticipates good support for the St. Joseph asset. "Intrepid is committed to supplying a number of key customers through this recent warehouse purchase,” he said. “We feel like our approach to this asset will further build customer relationships and ultimately grow our volumes in a key geography. We look forward to pursuing further opportunities of this nature where strategically sound.”
Tampa: Sources said international prices continued to rise, fed by trader-led transactions in China. Molten spot tons were in high demand, with transactions reported at up to $60/lt above contract prices.
Though many place blame for the meteoric jump squarely on the shoulders of Chinese traders, prices have continued to rise as buyers seek to outbid Chinese traders in hopes of locking down some of that limited supply.
Still unknown is the effect that negotiations between phosphate and sulfur producers will have on prices. As skyrocketing sulfur prices collide with ever-declining phosphate margins, phosphate producers can only bend so far before market fundamentals step in and find a price sustainable to both industries.
The fourth-quarter price for molten sulfur delivered to Tampa was $75/lt.
U.S. Gulf: The price range for Gulf prill remained flat at $60-$70/mt FOB. That price could rapidly rise with the next few sales, however.
Vancouver: With even the largest firms experiencing substantial negative netbacks, Alberta producers expected to increase blocking in January if prices don’t begin to tick up.
The spot price range at Vancouver remained at $50-$70/mt FOB, but sellers were hoping for additional dollars in future sales.
West Coast: Sources reported rumblings of domestic price increases as upward pressure mounts from international transactions. West Coast traders, however, have yet to see end users accept the overseas price points that appeared to be as high as $120/mt.
Benelux: The fourth-quarter price range for Benelux was $108-$122/mt.
ADNOC: The November ADNOC price was $80/mt FOB, and $73/mt FOB at Qatar.
U.S. Gulf: The market was put in the mid-to-high $330s/st FOB.
Eastern Cornbelt: Potash was quoted at $375-$387/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, depending on grade and location, with the low reported in Cincinnati and the upper end for white granular potash on a spot basis.
Sources continued to talk of a disappointing fall application season overall, owing both to late crop maturation and a reluctance by farmers to buy inputs with weak corn prices and uncertainties about next year’s acreage.
“I think there is some concern about the breakeven point on corn,” said one contact. “The drop in fertilizer prices has been helpful, but all that being said, what is the breakeven point next year if you’re still paying the same cash rent?”
Western Cornbelt: Potash was quoted at $370-$380/st FOB regional warehouses in the Western Cornbelt, depending on grade and location. One Iowa contact quoted the common dealer market for red granular potash at the $375/st FOB level last week.
Southern Plains: Potash pricing continued to slide in the Southern Plains, with sources quoting the warehouse market at $370-$375/st FOB, down $10-$15/st from last report.
Pricing out of Carlsbad, N.M., was also lower, with the market quoted at $375-$382/st FOB, depending on grade. The low end of the Carlsbad range was for red granular and the upper end for 62 percent white granular and soluble potash.
South Central: Potash pricing was reported at $370-$380/st FOB warehouses in the South Central region, with both the high and low ends of the region reported in the Arkansas market. The Memphis potash market was pegged at the $375/st FOB level last week.
Southeast: Potash was quoted at $377-$380/st FOB regional warehouses in the Southeast, down from last report, with rail-delivered tons commonly tagged at the $380/st mark in the region.
Belarus: BPC has fully recovered after the breakup, and exported more product in October – 400,000 mt – than the year-ago month, according to one report last week from Belta, the Belarus news agency.
Although much news coming out of the country is met with skepticism, Belta said Belarus has almost restored its share of the market, and is online to earn $2 billion from potash sales in 2013. BPC claims to have restarted sales to India and is doing a good business to Myanmar, with plans to be one of the top three sellers to Brazil.
Another report is a denial that BPC plans to adopt a volumes-over-price marketing strategy. BPC rejected reports that it would cut prices $30-$40/mt, and estimates that prices will begin to go up next year. It says prices have already evolved to allow minimal profits to a majority of manufacturers.
BPC says it will increase its sales of containers of potash to serve those buyers who want to buy smaller lots and protect themselves from volatile prices. As for resuming cooperation with Uralkali, BPC makes no projections.
“An agreement between the Belarusian and Russian partners would be a positive outcome for the market,” said BPC First Deputy Director General Alexander Polyakov. “And we are ready for it. We hope Uralkali will change its attitude towards the market and consumers, and adjust its price-forming policy.”
Central Florida: Abnormally dry conditions continued to expand in both the Northeast and Southeast last week, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. In addition, areas of moderate drought were expanding in portions of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.
The good news was that most of the corn harvest was nearly finished, with progress rated at 95 percent complete nationwide. The bad news was that parts of the Eastern Cornbelt and much of the South Central and Southeast regions were being slammed by a strong winter storm shortly before Thanksgiving.
The Central Florida phosphate market was quiet last week, with no new spot sales found and only contract railcars moving out of the state. Prices were unchanged, with DAP at $360-$370/st FOB and MAP bringing a $20/st premium over DAP in the Central Florida market.
U.S. Gulf: The Thanksgiving week took a toll on office attendance for many in the fertilizer industry, but a few deals did actually take place.
A strong storm was sweeping across the Midwest last week and was expected to move into the eastern U.S. later during the week. Fortunately, most of the corn crop had already been harvested.
A Nov. 26 snapshot of the futures market showed corn prices were down from the previous week, although the numbers were rosier for short-term soybean and wheat contracts.
Corn for December 2013 was $4.1775/bushel, down from the previous week’s $4.23/bushel, while corn for December 2014 clocked in at $4.5375/bushel, down slightly from the previous week’s $4.5775/bushel.
The January 2014 price of soybeans was $13.275/bushel, up 2.7 percent from the previous period’s $12.915/bushel, and just under the contract’s eight-week high. Beans for November 2014 were posted at $11.5475/bushel, down from the previous week’s $11.5925/bushel.
Short- and midterm-contracts for wheat appeared to rebound after dropping off from their six-month highs in late October. Wheat for December 2013 was at $7.0425/bushel, up from the previous week’s $6.9475/bushel, while wheat for July 2014 climbed slightly, to $6.8875/bushel from the prior week’s $6.8575/bushel. The July 2015 price of wheat was $6.985/bushel, down from the previous week’s price of $6.9825/bushel.
While dealer bins were not nearly full, activity remained suppressed. Now that farmers had their crops out of the field, the weather will have to cooperate before they will begin calling their local dealers for phosphate and other fertilizers.
The price for MAP has been heading south for the past several weeks, mostly because of the massive quantities of OCP product imported by both Koch and Helm. Domestic MAP was still priced well above DAP, but little has been sold recently because of the big price difference between it and the OCP material.
The price of DAP, on the other hand, has been slowly creeping up during the past few weeks. Koch was said to be bringing in a load of DAP in January. A source said they were first offered $325/st FOB for DAP, but the price rose to $330/st FOB only a day later.
The NOLA DAP barge price range last week came in at $325-$330/st FOB based on actual trades, compared to the previous week’s range of $322-$325/st FOB. NOLA MAP barges were reported in the same range as DAP, but a rumor held that a barge was sold at $317/st FOB for OCP product.
Eastern Cornbelt: DAP was tagged at $400-$415/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt. MAP remained at a $20/st premium to DAP.
10-34-0 was steady at $440-$455/st FOB in the region.
Western Cornbelt: DAP was quoted at $390-$405/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, reflecting another slight drop from last report, with MAP reported in the $415-$425/st FOB range.
10-34-0 was pegged at $410-$425/st FOB in the regi
Eastern Cornbelt: Granular ammonium sulfate remained at $270-$280/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt. Ammonium thiosulfate was steady as well at $335-$340/st FOB.
Western Cornbelt: Granular ammonium sulfate was pegged at $255-$265/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt.
Ammonium thiosulfate was reported in the $315-$325/st FOB range in the region last week.
Southern Plains: Granular ammonium sulfate was steady at $250-$285/st FOB shipping points in Texas, with the low at Freeport and the upper end FOB Littlefield and Plainview. Coarse grade prices were $10/st less than granular.
South Central: Granular ammonium sulfate was down slightly in the South Central region, with the dealer market pegged at $255-$265/st FOB.
The ammonium thiosulfate market was quoted in the $305-$315/st FOB range in the region.
Southeast: Granular ammonium sulfate remained at $250-$255/st FOB Hopewell, Va., and $265/st FOB Augusta, Ga., with delivered tons pegged at $270-$275/st in the Carolinas, $280/st in Georgia and Alabama, and $285/st in Florida.
Standard grade reference prices included $180/st FOB Augusta and $200/st DEL in Florida.
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.
