The STC urea tender closed Nov. 29 with prices higher, but not as high as expected.
Liven came in with the lowest offers of 132-144,000 mt for Krishnapatnam at $308.65/mt CFR and $310/mt CFR for Mundra. Swiss Singapore, with a 60,000 mt offer, had the lowest offer for Pipavav at $311.22/mt CFR. These prices reflect a $3-6/mt increase on prices from the September MMTC tender. Some traders had expected to see most offers in the $310-$315/mt CFR range, with a few even suggesting $320/mt CFR might be breached.
The ship-by date is Dec. 10. Before the tender closed, traders expressed concern about the short time between the closing of the tender and the shipping deadline. Awards and letters of credit will have to be issued quickly, they said, for the product to ship on time.
The rising price of prilled urea plus the potential of port congestion in China led traders to suggest before the tender closed that fewer tons will be offered. In the end, 1.7 million tons of firm offers were made in the tender.
The total tonnage offered in this tender is less than the tons awarded in the MMTC tender just a month ago.