U.S. Gulf: Granular prompt barge prices continued to be strong last week, with new trades reported at $330-$365/st FOB. Sources said there is still good demand for cotton and rice, with a good spurt of demand arising just before additional imports were expected into NOLA, boosting prices.
Good quality granular moving upriver was said to be trading in the $360-$370/st FOB range, with Chinese product reportedly sold at $343/st FOB.
While Chinese product was called in the low $300s/st FOB for July, other granular was said to be working its way up, from $310-$315/st to $320-$330/st FOB.
Prills were in tight supply and called $320-$335/st FOB.
Eastern Cornbelt: Granular urea pricing covered a broad range in the Eastern Cornbelt, from a low of $380-$390/st FOB out of river terminals in the Illinois market to a high of $420-$425/st FOB on a spot basis in Ohio. Sources said the Cincinnati market was out of urea at mid-month.
Western Cornbelt: Urea applications on rice continued in southern Missouri at mid-month, with the terminal market commonly quoted at $380-$385/st FOB in that state. The upper end of the regional range was reported at the $400-$410/st FOB mark in Iowa on a spot basis.
California: Granular urea pricing was quoted at $460-$465/st FOB Stockton, with the low end of the regional market pegged at $450/st FOB Modesto. No current price quotes were reported for delivered urea in late May.
Pacific Northwest: Granular urea pricing had reportedly slipped to $430-$440/st FOB Portland, Ore., down some $40/st from late May levels. Delivered urea in the Pacific Northwest was down as well, with sources quoting $465-$475/st as the common dealer market for new sales in mid-June.
Western Canada: Mid-month rains were reported throughout Manitoba, with heavy rainfall reported in southern Saskatchewan and southern Alberta on June 18. Flood watches were issued for a number of rivers in both provinces as a result.
The wet weather continued to delay planting in some areas, with officials warning that up to 400,000 hectares may go unplanted in Manitoba this year. Saskatchewan growers were in better shape, with 95 percent of the 2014 crop seeded by mid-month. Cool weather has delayed crop development in the province, however.
The granular urea market was reportedly shifting from prompt demand to summer fill, with summer fill offers reported in the $470-$500/mt DEL range in the region.
India: Industry watchers expected the STC tender to have a lot of tons offered and purchased. Sources now say that one out of two isn’t bad.
Hopes that up to 1.5 million mt would be purchased by STC were dashed when the final offers were revealed. While most offers were in the low $270s/mt CFR, one offer – from Aries – came in at $266/mt CFR for East Coast delivery.
Sources say most other offering companies will be hard-pressed to match the Aries offer. The netback to China on the Aries offer is pegged at $250-$253/mt FOB. Sources say in the run up to the tender, prilled urea had moved out of the upper $240s/mt into the low $250s/mt FOB. One trader said no material was available for less than $250/mt FOB at present.
The Indian buyer may allow some wiggle room on the final price based on the discharge port, but only a dollar or two at most.
Sources are saying that unless the Chinese producers accept dramatically lower prices, STC may only pick up 300,000-500,000 mt from this tender.
Aries offered 110,000 mt of Chinese material firm, and an equal amount as optional. Swiss Singapore had an offer of Iranian material at $270/mt CFR, with others ranging from $272-$275/mt CFR. The Swiss offer was for 225,000 mt fi