The high stakes phosphate game
No one in this industry should ever need a reminder that commodity markets are cyclical. The corollary of that is – every once in a while – markets can, and will, abruptly change direction.
No one in this industry should ever need a reminder that commodity markets are cyclical. The corollary of that is – every once in a while – markets can, and will, abruptly change direction.
The United States has imposed duties on Russian and Moroccan phosphate imports.
Fertilizer International presents a global round-up of phosphate rock, phosphoric acid and finished phosphates projects.
Ammonia supplies have been curtailed by production shutdowns, including Kaltim and PT PAU in Indonesia, SABIC and Ma’aden in Saudi Arabia, Sorfert in Algeria and Chinese gas-based producers. There have also been gas curtailments in Iran and Trinidad.
After many years of slow decline, Canadian sulphur exports have begun to rise slightly, but dwindling US markets are seeing a move towards more sulphur forming to expand export opportunities.
More than 330 million tonnes of soybean are grown globally every year and processed to yield oil and meal, a major source of animal protein. Its cultivation in Brazil, the US and other countries requires large applications of potash and phosphate. The nutrient needs of this major oilseed crop are reviewed.
Latin America has confirmed its status as a pre-eminent global marketplace for fertilizers. We report on demand growth and fertilizer supply and capacity developments within this diverse region.
Brazil’s phosphate industry is on a growth dash to meet rising domestic demand. We report on the major acquisitions, investments and expansions by CMOC, Mosaic, Yara and Itafos.
Ammonia prices have been on a rising trend over the past few months as plant closures begin to make themselves felt. Yara’s Baltic ammonia price also rose sharply at the start of October, and Nutrien’s announcement of the closure of its PCS-03 plant on Trinidad helped lift prices, with Yara and Mosaic’s contract prices rising $16/t in October.
Market Insight courtesy of Argus Media