U.S. Gulf: The most recent trades continued to be called $360-$365/st FOB.
Western Cornbelt: The ammonium nitrate market remained firm at $395-$415/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt.
California: No market was reported for ammonium nitrate fertilizer in California.
Sources talked of heavy CAN-17 demand on a spot basis, however, with some locations out of product at mid-month. CAN-17 remained at $318-$338/st FOB in California, depending on location and supplier, with one source quoting the common dealer market in the $325-$330/st FOB range for new sales.
Pacific Northwest: No market was reported for ammonium nitrate fertilizer in the Pacific Northwest.
CAN-17 was steady at $343/st FOB in the region.
The AN-20 market remained at $240-$250/st DEL in the Pacific Northwest.
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. has named Randy Coleman as executive vice president and CFO. He replaces Larry Hilsheimer, who left the company effective immediately, and is pursuing other opportunities.
Scotts said the appointment of Coleman was not a reflection of any concerns related to the company’s financial controls or business performance. "Larry brought good insights to the organization and we appreciate his contributions," said CEO Jim Hagedorn. "But as we have refined our strategic plan over the past year, our needs have changed, which is why we recognized that Randy is a better fit for our new direction. We wish Larry continued success going forward."
Coleman, 45, joined Scotts in 1999. He was most recently senior vice president of operating finance as well as enterprise performance analytics. A graduate of The Ohio State University, he began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
CVR Energy Inc., Sugar Land, Texas, the majority owner of petroleum refiner and marketer CVR Refining LP and nitrogen fertilizer manufacturer CVR Partners LP has named Janice DeVelasco the company’s vice president of environmental, health, and safety, effective immediately. For the past seven years she has been directing the process safety management program for the companies as a senior environmental, health, and safety advisor.
DeVelasco has more than 30 years of environmental, health, safety, and risk management experience, having served in several management and consulting positions with companies such as Citgo Petroleum Corp. and Sage Environmental Consulting LP. A licensed professional engineer, DeVelasco holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Oklahoma and an MBA from Texas A&M University.
CVR Partners LP has announced that Mark Pytosh has been named president and CEO of the partnership’s general partner, CVR GP LLC, effective May 5, 2014. He will be based at the LP’s headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas. CVR announced in November that President and CEO Byron Kelley planned to retire Jan. 1.
Pytosh was appointed as a director of CVR GP in June 2011. He will continue to serve as a director and as chairman of the environmental, health and safety committee.
Pytosh most recently served as executive vice president and CFO for Tervita Corp. based in Alberta. Formerly known as CCS Corp., Tervita is a North American environmental and energy services company. Pytosh has also served as senior vice president and CFO for Covanta Energy Corp., which owns and operates energy-from-waste power facilities, biomass power facilities, and independent power plants in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. He was also executive vice president and CFO for Waste Services Inc., an integrated solid waste services company.
Pytosh spent 18 years in the investment banking industry. From 2000-2004, he was a managing director in investment banking at Lehman Brothers, where he led the firm’s global industrial group. He was also a managing director at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where he led the firm’s environmental services and automotive industry groups.
Pytosh holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Tampa: Domestic supplies of sulfur, which were already tight, took a hit last week. The outage affecting the Syncrude refinery, said to account for roughly 1,000 mt of sulfur production per day when operational, was extended at least through late May.
Originally expected to return to production in mid-February, Syncrude has continually announced new reopening dates as deadlines for the facility to return to production are missed.
U.S. oil refinery operating rates rose for the week ending April 11, according to data obtained from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, after bottoming out four weeks ago. Sources attributed the upswing to refineries resuming production following their annual spring turnaround periods.
Outputs swelled to 88.8 percent, a 1.3 percent hike from the previous week’s 87.5 percent and 3.2 percent higher than the year’s low of 85.6 percent, posted for the week ending March 14. The rate was above the 86.3 percent reported for the same week in 2013, and beat the five-year average of 85.6 percent.
The second-quarter price of molten sulfur at Tampa was $133/lt DEL, an increase of $23/lt from the first quarter.
U.S. Gulf: Prilled sulfur sold in the Gulf of Mexico was static at $150-$160/mt FOB.
Vancouver: Contracts in the Vancouver sulfur market were quoted in a range of $170-$175/mt FOB, and were established near the height of the first-quarter market swell. Spot prices for the week were said to sit in a range of $140-$160/mt FOB, down from the previous week’s range of $140-$180/mt FOB.
Prices at Alberta were “all over the map,” as sources put the current market in a transition period where old contracts wrapped up at first-quarter levels and newer transactions were made at current market points. The resulting range was quoted at (-)$30-(+)85/mt, but that spread was expected to tighten in the coming weeks.
West Coast: The price of West Coast sulfur was quoted in a range of $140-$155/mt FOB, down from the previous level of $145-$160/mt FOB.
Benelux: Benelux announced a second-quarter settlement with its buyers in a range of $158-$172/mt, a $28/mt increase from the first-quarter price of $130-$144/mt.
ADNOC: The ADNOC sulfur price was set at $170/mt for April, down from the March price of $180/mt.
U.S. Gulf: Most continued to put prompt potash barges within the $340-$345/st FOB range, but others indicated pressure was starting to mount and thought prices might begin to slip with coming trades.
Eastern Cornbelt: Potash pricing was firm at the $370-$377/st level FOB regional warehouses in the Eastern Cornbelt, with the low for red and the upper end for white granular tons.
Western Cornbelt: Potash in the Western Cornbelt remained at a firm $370/st FOB for red granular tons, with white granular quoted at the $377/st FOB level. The Carlsbad, N.M., potash market had reportedly firmed to $370/st FOB for new sales of granular tons.
Sources said rail deliveries of potash out of mine locations in Carlsbad were stalled for two days due to an April 10 bridge fire on the Southwestern Railroad shortline near Roswell, N.M. Rail service resumed on April 12 when it was determined that the bridge had not suffered structural damage from the fire. The shortline serves the potash mine operations of both Intrepid and Mosaic.
California: The potash market remained at $495/st FOB warehouses in California, with rail-delivered tons quoted at roughly the same level.
The sulfate of potash (SOP) market was steady at $670-$680/st FOB in the state for the last business, but sources reported extremely tight inventories due to production problems and brisk demand.
Crystalline potassium nitrate was unchanged at $950/st FOB for bulk and $1,020/st FOB for bags.
Pacific Northwest: Sources quoted the potash market at $425-$445/st rail-DEL or FOB in the region. Potash pricing FOB Utah mines was reported at the $385/st level, but sources said spot tons were essentially sold out and trains and trucks remained very tight.
The K-Mag market remained tight as well, with the market pegged at $461-$481/st FOB in the Pacific Northwest.
Western Canada: Potash pricing remained at $379/mt FOB Saskatchewan mines to Canadian customers. Warehouse prices in Western Canada were tagged at $400-$420/mt FOB, depending on location.
India: Rashtriya Chemical and Fertilizer Ltd. called a second MOP tender even before its first one closed April 15. The second tender is to close April 23. RCF is looking for a total of 105,000 mt, with 95,000 mt firm and the rest at RCF’s option.
The MOP tenders are often a way to make prices public. At press time, sources say no award was made in the first tender that asked for 60,000 mt.
The general consensus, based on past experience, is that RCF will not award in these tenders, but will use the numbers to help in negotiating India’s much larger MOP needs.
Central Florida: A round of showers and thunderstorms brought localized rainfall of up to 4 inches in the Southeast at mid-month. Logistics difficulties improved but were still present, especially for railcar placement, and remained a factor in buyers’ decision making.
With rail shipments from the Central Florida market still experiencing indeterminate delays, sellers reported flagging interest. Conditions improved to where sellers were finally able to catch up on late orders, sources said, but the delays of the recent past made some customers hesitant to immediately renew commitments.
Shipping by truck remained the most timely method out of Florida, and truck-loaded DAP was offered at $465/st FOB with no sales. The posted price for Mosaic DAP was unchanged at $460/st FOB, with MAP offered for $20/st FOB more. The price range in the Central Florida DAP market was static at $460-$465/st FOB, based on offers and Mosaic’s posted price. Though no sales were uncovered, MAP was quoted at a $10-$15/st FOB premium to DAP.
U.S. Gulf: Transactions were light on the river due to a combination of the shortened holiday week, shifting focus toward the summer business cycle, and the arrival and discharge of a mostly presold Koch vessel from Morocco.
Barges already loaded and floating continued to command a healthy premium over those with load dates later in April, but reported transactions showed a definite downward price trend as the deadline for spring fertilizer application loomed closer.
Truly prompt transactions were quoted up to $490/st FOB for DAP, but some sources put Thursday offers at a “weak” $485/st FOB, claiming barges could be had for lower bids.
Much of the focus turned to paper trading for May, June, and July loading. May DAP transactions occurred in a range of $425-$435/st FOB, while a July barge was bought at $413/st FOB. July offers were quoted at $425/st FOB.
Conditions on the river continued to improve, and warmer weather in the Midwest prompted hopes that the first fertilizer barge would arrive at Twin Cities terminals as soon as April 19-20.
Work by the U.S. Coast Guard to replace navigation buoys on the Illinois River was suspended due to high water levels. An estimated 90 percent were lost over the winter due to ice, but buoys had so far been replaced from the mouth of the Illinois through Peoria Lake.
Reports indicated that Lock 18 on the Upper Mississippi River near Gladstone, Ill., would be closed during daylight hours on May 13, 15, and 19 for chamber repairs, and delays of 12-15 hours were experienced at the St. Louis-area Melvin Price Lock, where the main chamber was expected to remain closed through Aug. 12.
On the Ohio River, Dashields Lock will be closed from May 12 through June 6, and a towing restriction of 15 barges was in place for southbound transit through the Olmstead Locks and Dam Replacement Project, near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
In the Gulf, delays of 10-13 hours persisted at Industrial Lock in the New Orleans area due to high river traffic.
As for crop prices, corn contracts for May 2014 clocked in at $4.9475/bushel as of 4:00 p.m. on April 17, a fall from the previous week’s $5.0125/bushel. July 2014 corn was $5.005/bushel, a decrease from $5.0725/bushel the week before, and corn for December 2014 was $4.9675/bushel, down from $5.05/bushel at last report.
The May 2014 soybean price rose to $15.14/bushel from $14.8225/bushel a week earlier, and soybeans for July 2014 were put at $15.0225/bushel, up from $14.655/bushel at last report. Soybeans for November 2014 were posted at $12.3925/bushel, an increase from $12.255/bushel a week earlier.
Wheat for May 2014 was $6.9125/bushel, up from the previous week’s $6.6225/bushel. July 2014 wheat was also up at $6.99/
Eastern Cornbelt: The granular ammonium sulfate market remained at $285-$305/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, with the low reported in Illinois and Indiana and the upper end FOB inland terminals in Ohio. Honeywell’s April 10 granular ammonium sulfate postings included $300/st FOB Illinois terminals at Danville, Granite City, and Mapleton, with mid-grade referenced at $260/st FOB Danville and Byron, Ill.
Ammonium thiosulfate pricing was steady at $340-$350/st FOB in the region.
Western Cornbelt: Granular ammonium sulfate continued to be quoted at $275-$285/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, although postings from Honeywell had reportedly firmed to $300/st FOB Dubuque, Iowa, and $305/st FOB Omaha, Neb.
Ammonium thiosulfate remained 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. Central Valley sources quoted rail-delivered tons at the $255/st level last week.
Ammonium thiosulfate was unchanged at $300/st FOB Stockton.
Pacific Northwest: Granular ammonium sulfate remained at $265-$280/st FOB and $275-$285/st DEL in the region.
Ammonium thiosulfate was unchanged as well at $310-$330/st FOB in the Pacific Northwest.
Western Canada: Granular ammonium sulfate pricing was steady at $475-$480/mt DEL in Western Canada.
H.J. Baker, Westport, Conn., announced April 15 that Mike Dennerlein has been promoted to director of Tiger product management in the company’s fertilizer group. Dennerlein will be responsible for building and maintaining relationships with key domestic accounts; facilitating supply chain management, production, and delivery of Tiger-Sul products; serving on both the marketing and R&D teams; and managing all established and new sales channels.
“We are very pleased Mike will be our new director of Tiger product management,” said Don Cherry, president of H.J. Baker’s fertilizer division. “He replaces Marty Campfield, who was recently promoted to the new position of director of international sales for all H.J. Baker products. Mike assumes this position at a very important time. Demand for fertilizer products, especially sulfur, is growing. In order to continue to meet increased demand we must ensure we have the raw materials, finished products, and superior quality that our customers have come to expect. Mike is highly qualified and will help ensure that happens.”
Prior to joining H.J. Baker, Dennerlein spent 25 years with Agrium Inc., where he held a steady progression of roles with increasing responsibility. Dennerlein graduated from Manhattan College with a B.S. in Economics and Marketing, and also earned an MBA from Manhattan College.
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.
