Loveland, Colo., and Fresno, Calif. — Loveland Products Inc., a subsidiary of Agrium, and Actagro® LLC have entered into a commercialization and technology development agreement for soil and plant health nutritional products based on the Actagro Organic Acids Technology Platform™. The agreement gives Loveland, a provider of crop input products and the proprietary products provider for Agrium Inc.’s Retail division globally, expanded distribution, commercialization, and development rights to the platform in the Eastern U.S., Canada, and Australia. "This expanded partnership with Loveland Products allows us to expand our organic acid-based solutions into new regions, where they will enhance the ability of growers to produce higher quality, better yielding crops," said Monty Bayer, Actagro president and CEO.
Eastern Cornbelt: The granular ammonium sulfate market was firm at $290-$305/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt. Rail-delivered tons were pegged at $295-$310/st in the region, with the upper end reflecting the list price and the low after discounts.
Ammonium thiosulfate was steady at $345-$350/st FOB in the region.
Western Cornbelt: Granular ammonium sulfate was quoted at $285-$300/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, with rail-DEL tons pegged in the $295-$310/st range.
The ammonium thiosulfate market was steady at $320-$345/st FOB in the region.
Southern Plains: Granular ammonium sulfate was steady at $230-$265/st FOB Texas shipping points, with the low at Freeport and the upper end FOB Littlefield. Coarse was $10/st less and standard $20/st less than granular, where available.
The ammonium thiosulfate market was quoted at $300-$320/st FOB in the Southern Plains.
South Central: Granular ammonium sulfate remained in a broad range at $250-$280/st FOB in the South Central region, with the low reported at Memphis and the upper end FOB Little Rock, Ark.
Ammonium thiosulfate was pegged at $310-$325/st FOB in the region.
Southeast: The granular ammonium sulfate market was pegged at $255-$265/st FOB Hopewell, Va., and Augusta, Ga., with delivered tons referenced at $270/st in the Carolinas, $280/st in Georgia, and $285/st in Florida. Standard grade was referenced at $210/st rail-DEL in Florida.
U.S. Gulf: Recent trades were reported to have moved back up, with the last done now called as high as $305/st FOB.
Western Cornbelt: Ammonium nitrate remained at $360-$370/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt.
Southern Plains: The Tulsa ammonium nitrate market was reported at $350-$360/st FOB for limited tons.
South Central: The ammonium nitrate market was pegged at $350-$365/st FOB terminals in the South Central region, depending on location and time of delivery.
Southeast: The Tampa ammonium nitrate market was pegged at $375-$380/st FOB.
U.S. Gulf: The prompt market remained hard to peg, with the most recent numbers still called $237-$250/st ($7.41-$7.81/unit) FOB.
East Coast vessel imports were reported to be a little higher at $255-$260/mt CFR, with sellers eyeing $270/mt CFR for the next trade.
Eastern Cornbelt: UAN-28 remained at $255-$265/st ($9.11-$9.46/unit) FOB terminals in Ohio and Indiana, with the low reported in Cincinnati. UAN-32 pricing out of Illinois terminals was steady as well at $290-$300/st ($9.06-$9.38/unit) FOB, with the Cincinnati UAN-32 market quoted at roughly $291/st ($9.09/unit) FOB.
Western Cornbelt: The UAN-32 market was unchanged at $285-$300/st ($8.91-$9.38/unit) FOB terminals in the Western Cornbelt, with the low reported in southern Missouri.
Southern Plains: UAN-32 pricing was pegged in a broad range at $285-$300/st ($8.91-$9.38/unit) FOB regional production points in the Southern Plains, with the low end of the range quoted at the $270/st ($8.44/unit) mark FOB Gulf Coast terminals in Texas.
South Central: UAN-32 was unchanged at $285-$290/st ($8.91-$9.06/unit) FOB most terminals in the South Central region. Southeast: The UAN-32 market remained at $255-$260/st ($7.97-$8.13/unit) FOB port terminals in the Southeast.
U.S. Gulf: Prompt NOLA granular barges continued to soften last week, with new trades called $320-$330/st FOB. Chinese were about $10-$15/st less.
Prills were also weaker at $330-$335/st FOB.
Eastern Cornbelt: Granular urea was steady at $385-$410/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, with the Cincinnati, Ohio, market pegged at the $395/st FOB mark.
Western Cornbelt: Granular urea had reportedly slipped to $385-$400/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, with the low reported in southern Missouri and the upper end in Iowa.
There were reports that urea pricing out of the Twin Cities market in Minnesota had dropped to as low as $365/st FOB, though new sales at that level were not confirmed.
Southern Plains: The granular urea market had reportedly slipped to $380-$390/st FOB the Tulsa, Okla., market, with no tons available in Houston.
South Central: Granular urea pricing had reportedly fallen to $390-$400/st FOB terminals in the South Central region, down $20/st from last report. Sources described sales as “insignificant” while growers focus on harvest.
Southeast: Sources pegged the granular urea market in the Southeast region at $420/st FOB port terminals for limited tons, down $5-$10/st from last report, with some locations out of product last week.
India: When the counterbids in the MMTC tender were released, sources said the low prices might make securing more than 1 million mt difficult.
Those ideas proved wrong. As Green Markets was going to press, MMTC had secured more than 1.7 million mt. Industry watchers say more tonnage might still be added to the order books before the validity end date of Sept. 26.
Sources said traders were at first hesitant to accept the bids. The trading houses wanted to make sure they had enough material from a producer at an agreed-to price before stepping in. Once it seemed clear that the Chinese producers were not going to repeat their performance following the IPL tender awards and raise prices, the bids were accepted.
Just one or two trading houses moved on the bids at first, but once those first steps were taken, the rest of the offering companies quickly stepped in to secure a deal.
The Indian buyer set a range of prices depending on the discharge port. The lowest price was based on the Berrychem offer of $302.77/mt CFR to the east coast port of Krishnapatnam. The price range for other east coast ports was $303.77-$305.77/mt CFR. The west coast price range was $306.77-$309.77/mt CFR.
In the end, the west coast ports will be getting the bulk of the business, with approximately 1.2 million mt going to Mundra, Kandla, Pipavav, and Mangalore. The east coast ports of Kakinada, Krishnapatnam, and Karaikal will receive 550,000 mt, with Kakinada getting almost half of the tonnage.
A tally of awards as Green Markets went to press follows.
U.S. Gulf/Tampa: Nothing new was reported in these markets last week, though some speculated that the $70/mt run up in the Tampa price for October might continue into November.
October NYMEX natural gas settled Sept. 25’s at $3.971/mmBtu, up from Sept. 18’s $3.910/mmBtu.
Eastern Cornbelt: The ammonia market was quoted at $655-$670/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt for prompt or fall prepay tons, depending on location. Sources reported some inquiries from “tire kickers” for spring 2015 ammonia tons, but no actual numbers were confirmed.
Western Cornbelt: Anhydrous ammonia was steady at $630-$660/st FOB regional terminals in the Western Cornbelt, with the low in Nebraska and the upper numbers in Iowa and Missouri. Delivered ammonia remained in the $670-$690/st range in Missouri, depending on point of origin.
Southern Plains: The ammonia market remained at $600-$620/st FOB regional production points in the Southern Plains, with the pipeline terminal market pegged at $630-$635/st FOB in Kansas.
Low crop prices and ongoing logistics issues continued to temper expectations for fall applications on rowcrop ground. “Farmers are understandably not getting excited about fertilizer,” said one regional contact. “We are seeing very little interest in fall-applied ammonia for corn ground. Corn projections for 2015 are negative, so what’s there to get excited about?”
South Central: Anhydrous ammonia remained firm at $600-$620/st FOB in the South Central region, with the low FOB Memphis, Tenn.
Middle East: Apparently supply and demand have gotten out of whack enough that spot cargoes for November are being offered at $600/mt FOB and up. At this point, sources say nothing has been done at that level, but it is only a matter of time.
The rising price expectations are putting a strain on downstream users. One trader wondered how long Amsul and AN can be produced if ammonia keeps getting more expensive.
Black Sea: Sources report all is quiet in Yuzhnyy, mostly because there is little, if anything, to sell. Ukrainian material is non-existent because of plant closures related to the fighting between the Ukraine government and forces loyal to Moscow.
Brussels — The European Union on Sept. 24 reported that it has decided to renew tariffs on Russian ammonium nitrate for another five years, according to Bloomberg. The anti-dumping duties have been in place since 1995, and are as high as $60.46/mt for some producers, including OAO EuroChem.
Tel Aviv — The Central District Court has been asked to approve a class action suit against Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL) subsidiary Dead Sea Works (DSW) for monopoly practices. An Israeli farmer who lodged the request is claiming $26 million in damages for farmers buying potash from the company. The appeal to the district court charges DSW with taking advantage of its monopoly position in Israel to charge exorbitant prices for potash in the domestic market. The appeal is the first of its kind to be lodged since Israel’s Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein ruled that an indirect and not just a direct customer can take legal action against companies that violate Israel’s anti-trust law. The appeal charges that not only are domestic potash prices unreasonably high, but that since all government supervision of prices was lifted in 2006 and DSW has taken advantage of its monopoly powers. ICL would not comment on the appeal, saying that it had yet to officially receive it. In April an arbitrator issued a ruling regarding the price of potash sold by ICL to Haifa Chemicals following a lengthy dispute. In his ruling, Judge Boaz Okun stated DSW took advantage of its position as the sole supplier of potash in the local market to dictate prices that were just below the level that would have made it economically feasible to import potash instead of buying it locally. The judge stated in his ruling that DSW raised the price of potash in violation of an agreement with Haifa. The arbitrator also issued a price formula for future purchases.
Columbus, Ohio — Anheuser-Busch Cos. LLC, manufacturer of Budweiser and Bud Light beers, is facing $92,400 in penalties under citations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for two repeat and eight serious safety violations involving ammonia in the refrigeration system at the company’s Columbus, Ohio, brewery. The company was issued two repeat citations for failing to document properly the ammonia refrigeration system and the building ventilation design for use in emergencies. Also included are charges of failure to document adequately the design for a suction header pressure relief system. The company, which was cited for similar violations in 2010 at a brewery in Cartersville, Ga., has 15 business days to comply, request an informal conference, or contest the findings.
Seattle — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Sept. 18 that it has reached an agreement with Kronos Micronutrients
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.
