Urea market rallies in the west, while east continues to await Indian announcement

The widespread anticipation of an Indian urea purchasing tender announcement and a series of related and unrelated events has led to a sharp about turn in urea values. This week, the Profercy World Nitrogen Index reversed around half of the decline of the previous six weeks. The first sign of bullishness came in the paper…

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Optimism returns to the urea market as paper market surges pre-Indian tender; physical markets slow to react

The derivatives market based on the Profercy/ICIS fertilizer index is now at a notable premium to the physical with Arab Gulf, Nola and Egypt contract values rallying late yesterday. The past 1-2 days of trading of fertilizer futures through the CME Group futures exchange has seen optimism return to the urea market. September Arab Gulf…

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As September comes into view, supply pressure mounts on producers

Despite relative inactivity, global nitrogen values have declined by the sharpest amount since the latest downturn began in mid/late July. The ongoing downturn is being exacerbated by the delayed Indian urea tender announcement. This has been widely attributed to the tendering agency in India needing to free up credit lines and resources before holding the…

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Chinese urea offers sink on weak domestic demand, escalating freight rates and delayed Indian tender

The Profercy World Nitrogen Index (PWNI) has been pressured lower, with escalating freight rates once again a matter of concern and impacting fob urea values in a number of regions this week. With uncertainty surrounding when India will announce its next tender and the Chinese domestic market in the offseason, export offers from the world’s…

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Nitrogen Index declines: Eastern urea producers look to India to place September shipments, demand emerges in Brazil

The Profercy World Nitrogen Index has declined again this week with urea buyers in most regions remaining absent from the market. However, granular urea prices in the US and Brazil did improve with demand emerging early in the week. Fob values in the FSU and North Africa continue to be pressured with western markets slow.…

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Sensing further weakness ahead, urea buyers step back from the market or lower bids

The Profercy World Nitrogen Index has declined for the third consecutive week. Buyers have noticeably taken a step back from the market and reduced bids speculatively, particularly in Brazil. In fob regions that rely on western business, traders have been unwilling to accept producer offer levels or take on positions. In some regions such as…

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China’s return to the international urea market ends bull run

China’s return to the international urea market this week ended the bull run that began end-April. The sale of around 650,000t of urea from China aided India in securing 1.2m. tonnes of product in the latest purchasing tender, the largest single purchase since December 2020. Netbacks in the tender for suppliers were healthy, around $485pt…

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