U.S. Gulf: After a brief uptick, sources last week said ammonium nitrate barge prices had drifted back down to the $270-$275/st FOB range. Sources said the higher numbers were having a hard time holding in the face of weak urea prices.
Western Cornbelt: Ammonium nitrate was steady at $350-$365/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt.
Southern Plains: The ammonium nitrate market had reportedly slipped to $330-$340/st FOB Tulsa.
South Central: The ammonium nitrate market had reportedly fallen to $335/st FOB Memphis, while the upper end of the regional range remained at $365/st FOB Little Rock.
Southeast: The Tampa ammonium nitrate market was quoted at $350-$355/st FOB at mid-month.
Anglo American plc has appointed Ruben Fernandes as CEO of its Nickel, Niobium, and Phosphates businesses, effective Dec. 1, following Anglo American’s decision to combine the management of the three commodity businesses.
Walter De Simoni, CEO of the Nickel business since 2009, has decided to leave Anglo American to pursue other opportunities. Fernandes, currently CEO of Anglo American’s Niobium and Phosphates businesses, will report to Duncan Wanblad, CEO of the Base Metals and Minerals group.
The National Lime Association (NLA) has named William C. Herz as its executive director. Herz comes to NLA from The Fertilizer Institute, where he served as vice president of scientific programs since 2006. He succeeds Arline Seeger, who is retiring after 16 years of service to NLA.
Herz holds a B.S. from Cornell University and a Master of Public Health from George Washington University.
Yara International ASA said Oct. 18 that it and BASF are evaluating a possible joint investment in a world-scale ammonia plant at the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Yara lined up the reasoning for the move, noting that it has a global ammonia network and market expertise with the desire to increase its presence in the U.S. At the same time, BASF has a strong presence in the U.S. and is currently a major user of ammonia for its U.S. downstream manufacturing activities. BASF seeks to further strengthen its backward integration.
Yara said additional details of the possible joint venture, including the exact location for the plant, as well as the capacity of the plant, are currently being discussed by the parties.
The news adds another name to the very long list of proposed nitrogen projects for North America. Earlier this year, Yara, citing cost concerns, tabled plans for a major new plant at the site of its existing Yara Belle Plaine nitrogen complex in Saskatchewan.
Tampa: After The Mosaic Co. and PotashCorp settled molten sulfur prices for the fourth quarter at $75/lt, down $20/lt from the previous quarter, both sides began looking toward the next quarter.
Canadian suppliers were continuing to deliver sulfur at even bigger losses than the previous quarter. Most have little choice, because they do not have the ability to block the sulfur produced from their gas operations.
As a result of the federal government’s shutdown, no refinery capacity operating rates were available last week.
U.S. Gulf: The price for Gulf prill was unchanged at $60-$65/mt FOB, but exports have fallen off during the past few months. Sources expect prices will probably decline with the next sale.
Vancouver: Prices at Vancouver were unchanged at $50-$70/mt FOB last week.
Sulfur coming from Alberta to the U.S. declined $20/lt in relation to the new Tampa molten price. About 30-50 percent of the sulfur from Syncrude production was being blocked, but sulfur going to Vancouver generally will continue to be priced in relation to that market.
Alberta sulfur destined for Vancouver was $1-$2/mt in some cases, but others were below $0/mt.
West Coast: Prices on the West Coast were still in line with Vancouver, and remained in the $53-$73/mt FOB range.
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 $80/mt FOB the previous month. The price for November was posted at $60/mt FOB.
U.S. Gulf: The last done business continued to be called $340-$345/st FOB, but buyers, citing new imports, were seeking lower numbers last week.
Eastern Cornbelt: Potash remained at $380-$390/st FOB regional warehouses in the Eastern Cornbelt.
Western Cornbelt: Potash was quoted at $380-$392/st FOB regional warehouses in the Western Cornbelt, with the upper end reported in the Missouri market for white granular tons.
Southern Plains: Potash pricing remained flat at $385-$390/st FOB regional warehouses in the Southern Plains.
Reference prices FOB Carlsbad, N.M., included $395/st FOB for 60 percent standard, $400/st FOB for 62 percent standard and 60 percent granular, and $407/st FOB for 62 percent granular.
South Central: Potash pricing continued to slip in the South Central region. Sources pegged the dealer market at $375-$385/st FOB regional warehouses, with the low FOB Memphis. The Little Rock potash market was reported at $380-$382/st FOB last week.
Southeast: Rail-delivered potash had reportedly fallen to $385-$395/st in the Southeast, down $5-$15/st from last report, depending on location. One source described it as a “real buyers’ market,” with the FOB price also down to $390/st FOB for red granular tons.
Central Florida: Dealers in the eastern portion of the country were still holding off on making buys of phosphate and other fertilizers last week, and a strong possibility began to emerge that when ordering does begin, it will be difficult to meet their demands.
Because of the time it would take to place an order, load railcars, and get them to their destinations, trucks could have to make long hauls, which would add to the expense. Sources said dealers who want to save money for themselves and their customers should avoid waiting until the last minute – or the last ton in their bins – to make a move.
Mosaic will be closing its Hookers Prairie Mine in Polk County, Fla., by the end of next year, but it will continue to operate its phosphate processing plant at Bartow. The county had been the center of the phosphate mining business for decades.
The Central Florida DAP market was quoted at $370-$380/st FOB last week, down $10/st from last report. The price was much closer to the NOLA DAP barge price, but may have to decline more due to higher transportation costs.
MAP prices continued to bring a $20/st premium over DAP in the Central Florida market.
U.S. Gulf: As the time for river closing draws near, NOLA DAP and MAP barges already upriver or heading in that direction were bringing a premium last week.
Possibly sometime this week, barge lines will discontinue heading north of St. Louis or Cairo, Ill., as a cautionary move to avoid having their vessels trapped for the winter. After that, phosphate will be able to move to dealers in those areas only by truck or rail, which will add to the cost.
As one trader put it, however, “It’s not a matter of when the season will start this year, it’s if the season will start.”
Paper trades for December were running as low as $330/st FOB late last week, and that was said to be pushing those holding positions to attempt to liquidate sooner than planned.
An extra dose of precipitation at mid-month in parts of the Cornbelt should help raise the water level on the Mississippi River, which has been low for the past several weeks. Docks at St. Louis, Blytheville, Ark., and Memphis, Tenn., have been negatively impacted by low water levels, although recent rains helped push river levels at Memphis up 10 feet in four days. River levels were again receding as the week advanced, however.
On the futures market, prices for corn and soybeans were up compared with the previous week, while wheat was down. Corn was $4.4325/bushel for December 2013, up from $4.3825/bushel the previous week, while corn for December 2014 firmed slightly to $4.8325/bushel from the prior week’s $4.8025/bushel.
The soybean price for November 2013 was $12.9225/bushel last week, up from $12.88 bushel a week earlier, while beans for November 2014 firmed to $11.735/bushel from the previous week’s $11.7225/bushel.
Wheat for December 2013 fell to $7.49/bushel from the prior week’s $7.55/bushel, while wheat for July 2014 fell just slightly, to $7.335/bushel from $7.385 the previous week. Wheat for July 2015 was posted at $7.10/bushel last week, down from $7.1925/bushel one week earlier.
Koch and Helm were continuing to bring in vessels carrying OCP-produced MAP, DAP, and to a lesser extent TSP at a combined rate of three ships per month.
The NOLA DAP barge price range last week came in at $368-$377/st FOB, compared to the previous week’s narrower range of $374-$376/st FOB. NOLA MAP barges were about $20/st FOB higher than DAP last week, but were anticipated to fall in the near future.
Prices for upriver phosphate barges were running as high as $386.50/st FOB late last week.
Eastern Cornbelt: DAP remained at $415-$430/st FOB regional warehouses, with the low at Cincinnati. M
Eastern Cornbelt: Granular ammonium sulfate remained at $270-$280/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt region, with ammonium thiosulfate quoted at $340-$355/st FOB, depending on location.
Western Cornbelt: Granular ammonium sulfate was unchanged at $255-$275/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, with the low reported in southern Missouri and the upper end in the Nebraska market. An Iowa contact pegged the common dealer price at $270/st FOB in his location.
Ammonium thiosulfate was tagged at $310-$335/st FOB in the region, with the low in Nebraska and the upper end in the Missouri market.
Southern Plains: Granular ammonium sulfate remained 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.
The ammonium thiosulfate market remained at $300-$310/st FOB in the Southern Plains region.
South Central: Granular ammonium sulfate was quoted at $270-$285/st FOB in the South Central region, with the low FOB Memphis and the upper end in the Louisiana market.
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.
Agrium Advanced Technologies (AAT) has hired Bryan Guipre as the new territory manager for agriculture, covering Iowa and Nebraska. He brings 29 years of experience to the position, having previous worked in elevator management with Con Agra Flour Milling and in market development with Evans Enterprise LLC. He also has work experience in a family-owned ag retail business and in other feed and fertilizer businesses.
Based in Loveland, Colo., AAT is a strategic business unit of Agrium Inc. and the leading manufacturer and marketer of controlled-release fertilizers and micronutrients in the agricultural, professional turfgrass, horticulture, and consumer lawn and garden markets. AAT’s main products in the agricultural market are the polymer-coated nitrogen fertilizer ESN and AMP micronutrients.
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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.
