Tag: Prices

Market Insight courtesy of Argus Media

Further downward corrections are possible but the rate of demand is stabilising, suggesting the market floor is in sight, though some have suggested that May could bring another sharp reduction in the Tampa contract price towards the mid$300s c.fr. Demand remains sluggish in both eastern and western hemispheres.

Last year, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the associated disruption to fertilizer and grain exports from both countries, there were dire predictions of the impact upon global food supply. That the worst of these predictions have not so far come to pass is in no small part due to the deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022 to allow exports of grain and fertilizers from Black Sea ports. According to the UN, since last July, some 29.5 million tonnes of grain and foodstuffs have been exported from Ukraine via the Black Sea, including nearly 600,000 tonnes in World Food Programme vessels for aid operations in Afghanistan Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Yemen. Before the war, Ukrainian grain fed the equivalent of up to 400 million people worldwide, and the deal ensured that Ukrainian grain exports ‘only’ fell by 5 million t/a over the past year.

More than 370 delegates from over 160 companies and 40 countries gathered at the Hilton Bomonti Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey, 27 February to 1 March, for CRU’s Phosphates 2023 conference.

Market Insight courtesy of Argus Media. Urea: Scarcity continued to drive urea prices higher in some markets at the end of April. The US market remains short on urea and prices spiked to reflect this. Nola barges for April were trading as high as $450/st f.o.b. ($490/t cfr), 55 percent up on this year’s low point. Southeast Asia remains short on urea too, amid planned and unplanned turnarounds, with one cargo trading at around $345/t f.o.b.

Meena Chauhan , Head of Sulphur and Sulphuric Acid Research, Argus Media, assesses price trends and the market outlook for sulphur.

New sulphur burning capacity in India is expected to come online in the coming months at fertilizer producer operations. This will lead to an increase in sulphur import demand but also impact sulphuric acid imports to the country.

2022 was another very good year for Nutrien, the world’s largest crop nutrient company. The Canadian-headquartered fertilizer giant produces around 27 million tonnes of potash, nitrogen and phosphate products annually from operations and investments in 14 countries, distributing these to agricultural, industrial and feed customers across the globe. Its agriculture retail business, Nutrien Ag Solutions, also serves more than 500,000 farmers worldwide.

More than 1,000 delegates from 500 companies and 60 countries gathered at the Sheraton Grand Rio Hotel & Resort, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 29 January – 1 February, for the 2023 Fertilizer Latino Americano (FLA) conference. The event was hosted by CRU in collaboration with Argus. With attendance at record levels this year, we present selected highlights from this year’s four-day FLA event.

Market Insight courtesy of Argus Media. Urea: Prices fell in most global markets in early March as suppliers chased limited demand. Although India’s purchase tender has yet to formally conclude, IPL looks set to book 1.15 million tonnes of urea at $330-334.8/t cfr, with traders mainly sourcing from Russian and Middle Eastern producers.