US Gulf:
NOLA urea barge trades were reported in the $295-$312/st FOB range, down from the week-ago $305-$327/st FOB. Most March-loaded physical barge trades were quoted at the $310-$312/st FOB level, while April business fell in the $295-$305/st FOB range.
Eastern Cornbelt:
Urea was unchanged at $370-$390/st FOB in the Eastern Cornbelt, with the high out of inland terminals and the low confirmed at Cincinnati, Ohio. In the Great Lakes region, recent urea offers FOB Toledo, Ohio, were pegged at $400-$410/st FOB, down from $415-$420/st FOB at last report.
Western Cornbelt:
Urea was steady at $365-$390/st FOB in the Western Cornbelt, with the St. Louis, Mo., market pegged in the $365-$380/st FOB range.
Northern Plains:
Northern Plains urea pricing was pegged at $360-$390/st FOB, with the low confirmed at St. Paul, Minn., for river-open offers. No new prices were reported at Carrington, N.D., where tons were described as tight in late March. Delivered urea remained at $450-$470/st in North Dakota.
Northeast:
New prompt urea offers in the Northeast were reported at $395-$400/st FOB East Liverpool, Ohio, $405-$410/st FOB Fairless Hills, Pa., and $410-$420/st FOB Baltimore, Md. April-May pricing at Fairless Hills was referenced at $420/st FOB, with delivered pricing in Pennsylvania pegged at the $435/st level.
Eastern Canada:
Eastern Canada urea slipped to a broad C$700-$875/mt FOB range in late March, depending on location and supplier, below the previous low of C$720/mt.
India:
The government of India has renewed India Potash Ltd.’s (IPL) license to import agricultural urea. The government announced that IPL will be able to continue as one of three companies authorized to import subsidized urea, along with Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd. (RCF) and National Fertilizers Ltd. (NFL).
The government also said that buyers of technical-grade urea, intended for industrial use, will continue to be allowed to import tons as needed without government regulation. The agricultural urea is coated in neem and is heavily subsidized, while industrial urea is sold to companies at market value.
Sources remain firm that no new tender will be called until mid-May at the earliest. They noted that a new tender will not be called until all the tonnage awarded in the most recent tender has vessels nominated. The shipping deadline for the tender is June 1.
Black Sea:
The prilled urea out of the Black Sea has moved to the upper end of the range
from just a week ago. Sources now estimate the price at $270/mt FOB.
Indonesia:
Producers have gone quiet after Kaltim settled sales at $342/mt CFR. The final price was pushed up by producers following a tender in mid-March. Producers said the price will be higher next time.
Sources said the producers are pointing at a rumored deal into Mexico at $530/mt CFR as an argument for a higher Indonesian price. Sources said the deal was most likely done by Fertiglobe into Eastern Mexico with Algerian product, and not Indonesian urea.
Buyers and sellers are reportedly settling their deals on a formula basis. One trader said this process offers little in the way of price transparency, allowing both sides to quietly claim favorable prices to themselves.
Middle East:
The price in the Arab Gulf remains in the low-$300s/mt FOB. Producers are said to be busily fulfilling orders from the previous Indian tender, along with some small cargoes for other buyers.
Sources said Egyptian producers remain quiet, while sources keep looking for bargains. The last set of deals in the upper-$370s/mt FOB are now said to be too expensive for buyers. At the same time, producers are saying the price is too low.
The absence of Russian material in Europe has opened up greater possibilities for more Egyptian sales deeper into Europe, according to local media reports. When Russian product was more widely available, Egypt was a supplier of small quantities to buyers mostly located in southern Europe. Since the start of the war Ukraine and the subsequent cutback in the availability of Russian urea, however, sources said that buyers throughout Europe are looking to Egypt and Algeria for tonnage.
China:
With the country still in a strong domestic season, allocating urea for export is out of the question, said traders. The going price is $370-$380/mt FOB, said sources, based on strong domestic demand. This price is out of line with the rest of the global urea market.
Sources expect urea prices to remain high and export possibilities to remain limited into April, when the domestic season is projected to wind down.
Brazil:
Prices were flat on limited demand. Sources put the landed price at $310-$320/mt CFR. There were reports of sellers trying to jumpstart a price rebound with offers in the $330s/mt CFR, but with no takers.
The Rondonopolis market was reported down to $455-$460/mt FOB ex-warehouse, a dramatic drop from the range’s $490/mt FOB high noted just one week earlier.
Argentina:
January-February urea imports totaled 13,000 mt, Trade Data Monitor reported, up from the year-ago 1,500 mt.
February imports were 9,500 mt, up from just 56 mt imported in February 2022. Egypt supplied 92% of the imports with 8,800 mt.
Bangladesh:
Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Ltd. (CUFL) restarted production of ammonia and urea on March 23 after a four-month stoppage due to damage sustained in a November fire, the Business Standard reported, citing CUFL Managing Director Mizanur Rahman.
The plant has a nameplate production capacity of 1,400 mt/d, but the volume of natural gas available is insufficient for the plant to run at full capacity. The facility requires 48-52 million cubic feet of gas daily for full capacity, but currently only 42 million cubic feet are being supplied, which cannot produce more than 1,000 mt/day of urea, according to Rahman.
Recommissioning was planned for mid-February, after production was stopped on Nov. 22 following a fire in a reformer pipe at the ammonia plant (GM Nov. 25, 2022).