Grupa Azoty Police has successfully loaded a 36,640 tonne fertilizer consignment at its seaport for transport to South America. The historic shipment marks the first of its kind, in terms of its scale and the history of the company’s Police production plant, Grupa Azoty said.
President Donald Trump delayed his ‘liberation day” tariffs by three months on 9th April, while simultaneously ramping up levies on China. In this latest twist to the on-off US tariffs saga, the Trump administration’s 90-day pause on additional duties should provide international suppliers to the world’s biggest fertilizer market with some respite – for now. With the exception of China, the US will now cut back its so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’ to 10% for the duration of a three-month suspension period. The European Union’s tariff is now halved to 10%, for example, with the trade bloc also pausing its trade countermeasures against the US.
While the US tariff situation remains subject to considerable uncertainty, there has already been an impact on short term trade flows, as well as investment decisions.
• Global sulphur prices are expected to stay relatively stable as purchases in Asia slow down due to the closing of the purchasing window for the Chinese spring fertilizer application season.
Urea markets are well supplied at present in spite of Chinese export restrictions, but face volatility due to a number of trade barriers and other non-market pressures.
The European Commission (EC) says it has begun tracking European imports of certain ethylene and ammonia products, to allow it to react quickly to level the playing field if the monitoring points to a surge of imports causing or threatening to cause injury to the EU industry. This surveillance has been put in place in response to evidence of a significant and potentially injurious increase in the EU market share of imports of the chemicals. It covers imports of copolymers of ethylene and alpha olefin, urea containing more than 45% (by weight) of nitrogen, and ammonium sulphate from all countries, and should remain in place for a period of three years.
To cope with higher demand for green and blue ammonia, new ammonia terminals will be required and must be designed with respect to social and environmental challenges, as well as local permitting regulations and safety requirements. Saipem has developed a wide range of solutions to tackle those challenges and requirements by offering large-scale liquid ammonia storage and import/export terminal facilities supported on gravity based structures.
P r esident Trump’s flurry of activity in his first month of office has not only upended the global political order that has existed, more or less, since the US rearranged it to its satisfaction in 1945, but has also had a seismic impact on world trade. How the various strands of US policy will play out remains highly uncertain, but some clear trends are beginning to emerge.
• Sulphur prices have been revised higher in the latest forecast after supply from the Middle East was lower than expected in February, and buyers with uncovered demand were forced to chase prices upwards. UAE sulphur exports normally fall at the start of the year due to scheduled maintenance, but sales in February this year were 200,000 tonnes short of what is typical. Prices may climb more than expected as buyers scramble to cover their shorts. If supply is slower to return than currently anticipated, momentum may push prices even higher in the short term.
Tight supply limits availability as China maintains export restrictions.