Indonesia urea auction lackluster
The Indonesian urea auction for up to 60,000 mt – 30,000 mt firm; 30,000 mt optional — ended up with two companies bidding and a reluctant seller. Reports from Indonesia say Indevco bid at $345/mt FOB and Swiss Singapore bid at $300/mt FOB. The last public business out of Indonesia – about a month ago – showed prices in the $320mt FOB. The Indevco bid shows a rise in price and the Swiss Singapore bid shows an equally dramatic softening influence. The wide spread in pricing is indicative of the way urea traders talked in the run up to the announcement MMTC/India would close a urea tender March 12. The uncertainty in pricing is not limited to buyers.
Pusri, the auction operator, is unsure if it wants to accept the Indevco bid. Sources say a decision may be made on Monday, March 10, to accept or scrap the auction.