Yara publishes Q3 results: Deliveries up, margins lower

Yara International ASA announced today weaker third-quarter results compared with a year earlier. Third-quarter EBITDA excluding special items was down 35% at NOK 2,968 million compared with NOK 4,614 million a year earlier. The company noted that weaker fertilizer prices were only partly offset by higher deliveries of Yara-produced products, lower energy costs and currency translation…

Urea markets benefit from Indian demand; ammonia prices remain low

Profercy’s World Nitrogen Index currently stands at 94.90pts and has tracked sideways through September. However, with modest gains for urea and ammonium nitrate prices evident in the past two weeks,  the Index could soon move over the 95 point mark for the first time since June. Urea: Indian demand supports producers in the East Global…

Urea: August defined by price stability and supply outages

Mid-July saw Profercy’s Nitrogen Index at its lowest level since the 2009 start date. However, international urea prices gained towards the end of the month and the market was stable to firm throughout August. Black Sea prilled urea prices are currently $15-20pt above the low levels seen in July, while Egyptian granular urea has gained…

US Gulf urea prices up $20-30ps ton – a seasonal run-up in a bear market?

After a difficult January for nitrogen producers, global urea markets are currently on a firmer footing. Significantly, urea values in the US Gulf ran-up quickly in the last 10 days, moving up $20-30ps ton to over $245ps ton for March barges. A number of factors have supported the run-up, including the fact that the US…

Urea prices down $20pt on mid-December 2015 levels

Negative start to 2016; nitrogen prices under pressure Plentiful global supply and low energy environment undermines potential for a sustained run-up in prices It has been clear for some time that 2016 would be a difficult year for urea markets. Q1 has traditionally provided the best opportunities for producers to manage a run-up in global prices. However,…

An uninspiring end to 2015 for the urea industry

The below entry draws heavily on Profercy’s latest Nitrogen Market Forecast. To obtain a copy, you can register for a free trial of Profercy’s Nitrogen Service here.  It has been another challenging year for urea. As evidenced by the graph below, average nitrogen values prices have fallen for three years. Indeed, the Nitrogen Index, heavily…