U.S. Gulf: The potash barge market was reported to be sleeping, with the last done business called $315/st FOB. All July was reported to have traded a few dollars less.
Sources continued to speculate that the market could go lower, but at this point sources said many are simply waiting on word of summer fill programs and trying to determine farmer demand.
Eastern Cornbelt: Potash was quoted in a broad range at $360-$390/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, with the low reported in the Cincinnati market and the upper end out of spot inland warehouses. The dealer market FOB Washington Court House, Ohio, was pegged at the $370/st FOB level last week.
Western Cornbelt: The potash market was quoted at $360-$380/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt. Sources reported no summer fill program announcements for potash last week, but several acknowledged the “need of a correction” to spark some interest. There were reports of warehouse fill tons being offered on the secondary market for as low as $345/st FOB on a spot basis, but that level was not confirmed.
Northern Plains: Potash pricing FOB Saskatchewan mines remained at $355-$365/st for standard, $360-$370/st for granular, and $367-$377/st for soluble to U.S. customers.
Delivered potash in the Dakotas was quoted in the $380-$400/st range, depending on location, while the warehouse price FOB the Twin Cities had reportedly slipped to the $375/st level for granular tons. No summer fill programs were out yet for potash in the region.
Northeast: Potash was unchanged at $397/st FOB Baltimore and $400/st FOB East Liverpool for 60 percent tons, with the upper end of the regional range quoted at the $407/st FOB level for white granular and/or soluble potash. Rail-delivered potash remained at $405-$412/st for prompt tons in the Northeast, depending on grade and location.
One source said he doesn’t expect the potash market in the Northeast to change until a summer fill program is announced.
Eastern Canada: Potash was quoted at $555/mt FOB regional warehouses in Eastern Canada.
Sulfate of potash (SOP) had reportedly slipped to $925-$946/mt FOB in the region.
The SOP Magnesia market was steady as well at $675-$700/mt FOB in Eastern Canada.
India: To date, India is believed to have agreed to buy a total of 4.3-4.5 million mt of potash for delivery in the current fiscal year (April 1, 2015-March 31, 2016), together with an estimated 700,000-750,000 mt of optional quantities.
ICL is the latest company to officially announce new annual contract volumes with Indian buyers for delivery in the current fiscal year. On June 19, the Israeli company said it had signed several contracts for the supply of an aggregate of 835,000 mt of potash with its customers in India, including optional volumes. ICL confirmed it had agreed to a $10/mt increase, in line with other supplier contracts.
As previously reported, ICL is rumoured to have concluded 525,000 mt firm with Indian Potash Ltd. (IPL). In addition, sources report that ICL has agreed to supply around 160,000 mt firm to Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd., and around 60,000 mt firm to Coromandel Fertilisers Ltd. However, in its official announcement, it gave no breakdown of tonnages by buyer.
K+S is the only major supplier still not to have officially announced contract volumes. It is reported, however, that the company has reached an agreement with IPL for up to 150,000 mt of potash for supply in the current fiscal year, but this could not be confirmed by press time.
Meanwhile, IFFCO is reported to have received 14 offers under its tender for 2,000 mt of potassium sulfate, which closed June 19. The lowest offer submitted was quoted at