U.S. Gulf: Most last week were putting prompt granular that was ready to go in the $380-$385/st FOB range. While some said sellers were quoting as high as $414/st FOB, business at those levels could not be confirmed, and buyers said last week that they could not make those numbers work. Product out a few weeks was called $350/st FOB.
New trades for August were called $330-$335/st FOB, though market bears were in disagreement, seeing an influx of imports putting August under pressure. Their price ideas were more in line with $315-$320/st FOB.
Prills remained stable at $335-$340/st FOB.
May urea imports were up 32 percent, to 633,992 st from the year-ago 481,953 st. July-May imports are still off, however, dropping 10 percent to 7.24 million st from the year-ago 8.01 million st.
Eastern Cornbelt: The granular urea market was steady at $420-$445/st FOB regional terminals in the Eastern Cornbelt, with tapped out inventories at numerous locations in early July.
Western Cornbelt: Sources quoted the dealer market for urea at $420-$440/st FOB regional terminals for limited tons in the Western Cornbelt, with movement on rice still underway in parts of southern Missouri.
California: The granular urea market had reportedly slipped to $425-$450/st FOB in California, depending on location and supplier, with the low end representing Agrium’s July 1 posting FOB Hanford. Agrium’s July 1 reference price at East Stockton was $485/st FOB.
Delivered urea pricing covered a broad range in the region, depending on location and point of origin. Effective July 1, Agrium’s truck-delivered urea postings in the state moved to $395/st in Central California and $405/st in Northern California from West Sacramento; $465/st in Central California from Hanford; and $535/st in Central California and $540/st in Northern California from East Stockton.
Pacific Northwest: The granular urea market FOB Portland, Ore., had reportedly slipped to $420-$430/st FOB, down $10/st from last report and a full $50/st below May pricing levels. Delivered urea was pegged at $440-$450/st in the Pacific Northwest, down roughly $25/st from last report.
Agrium’s July 1 granular urea postings in the Pacific Northwest included $435/st FOB Pella, Ida., $440/st FOB West Woodburn, Ore., and $445/st FOB Washington warehouses at Glade, Wilson, Plymouth, Moses Lake, and Warden. Agrium’s delivered urea postings moved on July 1 to $440/st DEL in southern Idaho; $440-$445/st DEL in Montana; $445/st DEL in northern Wyoming; $450/st DEL in northern Idaho, Oregon, Washington, northern Nevada, and northern and central Utah; and $455/st DEL in southern Utah.
Agrium’s urea postings in Alaska moved on July 1 to $550-$600/st DEL, depending on location.
Western Canada: The granular urea market was pegged at $520-$545/mt DEL in Western Canada. Sources said summer fill offers that were available at sub-$500/mt levels for a period in June were no longer on the table last week.
India: India Potash Ltd. (IPL) issued a tender last week to close July 16, with offers valid until July 19. Sources say the short time between the closing of the tender and the validity date indicates IPL wants to move quickly on issuing awards and getting urea moving to the country.
The tender calls for shipment by the end of August. Sources say the industry is expecting congestion in Chinese ports later this month and into August. One trader said tender winners will need as much time as possible to book their berthing times to meet the shipping deadline.
The call came about a week earlier than expected. Sources speculate that the closing of the tender was timed to match the final v