The State Trading Corp. of India called the last urea tender of the calendar year. The tender will close Nov. 16. Shipment from the loading port is to be completed by Dec. 30.
The industry had been expecting the tender. Sources report India still needs about 1 million mt of urea to close out the fiscal year, which ends in March.
The current rise in urea prices is expected to limit how many tons each trading house will offer in this tender. Iran is expected to lead the way with offers nearing 300,000 mt. After that, said one trader, it will all depend on how willing the Chinese producers will be to lower their prices to match the Iranians. Arab and CIS producers will also have to lower their current pricing ideas to meet the expected lower Iranian price.