U.S. Gulf:
The UAN market may have gone into “shock” mode after CF announced new inland pricing on March 4 that was up approximately $90/st FOB. Sources had earlier said UAN offers had been pulled while sellers assessed higher postings in light of the run up in other nitrogen price. However, the amount of the increase was a bit surprising to some.
Going into the announcement, sources put the last NOLA trade at around the $220/st FOB ($6.88/unit) mark, with anticipation that the next trade would certainly be up. Rather than an anticipated incremental jump to $230-$250/st FOB, sources said after the CF news, sources were expecting $280-$300/st FOB for the next physical trades, with those numbers already reported on the paper market.
Eastern Cornbelt:
CF on March 4 released limited new UAN-32 prices that show a roughly $90/st increase from the company’s early February postings.
New offers for spring tons reportedly include $300/st ($9.38/unit) FOB Yazoo City, Miss.; $300-$310/st ($9.38-$9.69/unit) FOB Donaldsonville, La.; $325/st ($10.16/unit) FOB Mount Vernon, Ind.; and $327/st ($10.22/unit) FOB Cincinnati. Those levels reflect a significant hike from the last offers at Cincinnati, which reportedly included $250/st ($7.81.unit) FOB for UAN-32 and $235/st ($8.39/unit) for UAN-28.
Western Cornbelt:
New offers for spring UAN-32 tons from CF firmed on March 4 to $310-$320/st ($9.69-$10.00/unit) FOB Port Neal, Iowa; $325/st ($10.16/unit) FOB St. Louis; $340/st ($10.63/unit) FOB Garner, Iowa; and $345/st ($10.78/unit) FOB Hastings, Neb. Offers for June tons FOB Woodward, Okla., were reported at the $320/st ($10.00/unit) FOB level.
Northern Plains:
Sources said previous UAN-32 prices at $275/st ($8.59/unit) FOB Winona, Minn., were no longer on the table in early March, and levels will be “much higher” when new offers are announced. No current prices were being offered at Pine Bend, Minn., either, despite a round of new and significantly higher postings from CF at other Midwest locations on March 4.
Great Lakes:
CF’s March 4 UAN-32 postings reportedly included $345/st ($10.78/unit) FOB Burns Harbor, Ind., for March-June tons and Courtright offers at $310/st ($9.69/unit) FOB for March and $330/st ($10.31/unit) FOB for April-May. No new quotes were offered out of Michigan terminals at Muskegon and Schoolcraft, where the last official postings on Jan 27 included $245/st ($7.66/unit) FOB Schoolcraft for April-May and $260/st ($8.13/unit) FOB Muskegon for April-June tons.
Northeast:
Sources reported stronger UAN-32 pricing in the Northeast region in early March, with terminal prices climbing to $295-$305/st ($9.22-$9.53/unit) FOB Baltimore, Md., and $340/st ($10.63/unit) FOB terminals in update New York, up roughly $20-40/st from mid-February.
California:
IRM’s UAN-32 postings in California firmed on March 2 to $300/st ($9.38/unit) FOB Stockton and $325/st ($10.16/unit) FOB Hanford, up $30/st from the company’s Feb. 17 postings and a full $55/st higher than the Jan. 26 Stockton reference price.
Pacific Northwest:
IRM’s UAN-32 postings in the Pacific Northwest firmed again on Feb. 25, moving up to $300/st ($9.38/unit) FOB Pasco, Wash., and Umatilla, Ore.; $305/st ($9.53/unit) FOB Central Ferry, Wash.; and $335/st ($10.47/unit) DEL in eastern Oregon and Washington. Those levels are up $30-$35/st from the company’s Feb. 16 postings and a full $50-$60/st higher than Jan. 21 reference prices.