Traders eye East to West opportunities amid North African supply squeeze
- High US Gulf urea prices support higher netbacks for Egyptian product
- Chinese granular urea cargo expected for Europe – first ever major cargo due in Q3
- Ammonia and ammonium nitrate prices supported by continued supply cutbacks
Profercy’s World Nitrogen Index gained one point this week on the back of stable prilled urea prices in the Black Sea and a modest up-tick in prices for Egyptian granular urea. The latter has been supported by competition for product for shipment to the US where barge prices for next month remain at healthy levels.
However, while this market currently offers good returns for urea, the week did see prices ease in Latin America. Similarly, further sales of Chinese granular urea were made below $290pt fob. In a market first, there are reports that a co-operative in Europe has purchased part of a cargo of granular urea for Europe. While Chinese granular urea has previously been exported to mature markets, such as the USA (and will play a big part this year), the product is untested in Europe.
The Index was supported this week by improvements in Black Sea AN and UAN prices, as well as stable ammonia prices. Ammonia prices in the Black Sea have not changed dramatically in recent weeks, supported by production issues, not only in Ukraine, but also in North Africa and the Middle East.
Profercy’s Nitrogen Index rose 1.19 points to 159.98 this week. For more information on any of the above observations or issues, please contact us and request a free trial of the Profercy Nitrogen Service by clicking here.
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PWNI up 1.19 points.
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PWNI up 1.19 points.
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Methodology
The Profercy World Nitrogen Index is published every week and is based on price ranges provided by the Profercy Nitrogen Service. This includes prilled and granular urea, UAN, AN, ammonium sulphate and ammonia. A full methodology can be found here.
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