U.S. Gulf: “Time is money” is the saying, and that was pretty much the way it was on the NOLA granular urea market last week.
Prompt barges that were loaded and ready to go were garnering a significant premium over those that were due to load within the next few weeks. Prices were generally called $715-$740/st FOB, with unconfirmed reports that $750/st FOB was achieved. The most common number heard was $730/st FOB. Sources said the higher end of the range represented barges ready to sail, while the lower end was for those to be loaded.
Prices into May and June saw gradual erosion, though some predicted that these could show more strength as the market gets guidance on further demand, particularly for rice country.
A Yara vessel slated for June has been delayed until July. Another was expected to unload in first half May.
Eastern Cornbelt: The granular urea market was quoted at $750-$775/st FOB regional terminals for prompt pull, with the upper end reported in the Ohio market on a spot basis and the low quoted in the Illinois market. Urea inventories remained very tight in the region. One source said some suppliers were offering forward tons at $690-$705/st for mid-to-late May.
Western Cornbelt: Sources pegged the granular urea market at $740-$760/st FOB regional terminals for available tons, but inventories were described as sparse in the Western Cornbelt. One source quoted the common dealer market in the region solidly at the $750/st FOB mark in late April.
Southern Plains: Urea inventories remained tight out of Southern Plains terminals. The market was pegged at $730-$740/st FOB Catoosa, Okla., for any available tons.
Sources described the Catoosa market as tight last week due to brisk demand and some restrictions on commercial barge traffic on the Arkansas River. With limited spot tons available, there were reports that some resellers are hesitant to commit to replacement tons for fear of a price collapse and ending the season with excess inventory.
South Central: Several sources said demand was in a brief lull between the heavy corn planting push and the rice and cotton season. Urea demand for the first application on rice was just starting in southwestern Louisiana, but most other locations were still a week to ten days away from heavy demand.
Urea pricing and availability remained the “center focus” for many dealers, as one source described it last week, and caution was a key part of that focus. “We’re working as close to the vest as we can,” said one source. “It’s just-in-time delivery, and we don’t want any more than we need.”
Out of regional terminals, the granular urea market was quoted at $735-$760/st FOB, with the low reported in Louisiana and the upper end out of the Memphis market. Several Arkansas sources pegged the common dealer price for urea solidly at the $750/st FOB mark last week.
Southeast: Demand for urea had also slowed in the Southeast, with sources citing limited availability and higher prices as the cause. Sources reported a range of urea prices out of regional terminals, including $710/st FOB Norfolk, Va., and $715/st FOB Brunswick, Ga., for limited tons, and $750/st FOB Wilmington, N.C. Urea was unavailable in Savannah, Ga., in late April.
India: STC will close a tender May 4. The tender calls for an unspecified amount of non-Iranian urea. This tender is the first major one to rule out the opportunity of Iranian tons.
Some traders speculate that STC does not want to end up in the same situation following the most recent IPL tender.
Emmsons won the March IPL tender with 500,000 mt of Iranian urea. Since the time the award w