All Posts from May 30, 2017

IPL Tender Shows Softer Global Urea Market

The IPL urea tender closed May 29 with 18 companies putting forth about 1.6 million mt in firm offers and 90,000 mt in options. The low price for the West Coast was from Comzest at $211.25/mt CFR into Rozy. The lowest offer to the East Coast came from Dreymoor at $212.25/mt CFR into Gangavaram.

The price represents nearly a $20/mt drop from the previous tender. Sources said IPL will most likely try to grab as many tons as possible with this price. Estimates are that India will need to import just under 1 million mt each month for the next five months to satisfy the anticipated demand in the country.

The buyer wanted about 60 percent of the offers to be for the West Coast. In the end offers into West Coast ports totaled a bit more than 1.1 million tons. East Coast offers came in at 618,000 mt.

The netback to the Arab Gulf from the West Coast of India puts the price at just under $200/mt FOB. This is in sharp contrast to the 30,000 mt offered by Muntajat from Qatar at $215/mt FOB. One trader said the prices offered were not surprising. “No one believed in the $200/mt FOB Arab Gulf price anyway,” he said.

Fertil and Fertisul let IPL know they would not be participating.

Supreme Court orders Haifa NH3 tank emptied

Israel’s Supreme Court on May 28 ruled that Haifa Chemicals’ ammonia tank must be emptied by July 31, according to the Israeli press. The tank can hold up to 12,000 mt and opponents have argued for years that it is an easy target for terrorists. A lower court had also ruled in favor of closing the tank, however, Haifa Chemicals appealed the case to the higher court.