Europe:
The firm tendency in the market continued this week, with further August business has been concluded at $490-495/tonne FOB Yuzhny and little product left to sell. Ideas are starting to turn to September, but suppliers are in little hurry to commit tonnes given expectations that prices will rise as August progresses on the back of scheduled maintenance shutdowns impacting availability out of Yuzhny and strong demand for shipments to the US.
Mitsui is understood to have purchased a cargo for August shipment from Yuzhny, with half of the cargo fixed at $493/tonne FOB and the remaining 50% under formula.
NF Trading is now sold out for August loading. Sales reportedly total 50,000 tonnes to traders for August shipment, priced in the $490-495/tonne FOB range. September availability remains unsure pending the finalising of maintenance programmes. It is currently expected that maintenance work will be carried out at Gorlovka during September.
August availability from OPZ is understood to be 50,000 tonnes. There are indications that the majority has already been sold.
Togliatti’s production has returned to six ammonia lines, although one line is due to be down for a revamp in August. Availability is now expected to be around 150,000-160,000 tonnes for August shipment. Nitrochem is currently expected to load 157,500 tonnes, although the Gas Snapper may slip to September.
The tanks in Yuzhny are currently low due to maintenance work being carried out on the pipeline. There was reported to be 30,000 tonnes in the tanks midweek which was causing a delay to the loading of the Clipper Neptun.
The July line up for shipments from Yuzhny totals 324,300 tonnes, while there are 221,000 tonnes currently lined up for August shipment.
In the Baltic, availability remains tight and offers continue to be reported at $515/tonne FOB. Eurochem has no ammonia available for export during August.
The Polargas arrived in Sillamae on 24 July to load for Yara for NW Europe. The Havlys loaded in Ventspils on 25 July for Yara for NW Europe. The Coral Ivory is eta Ventspils on 28 July.
In Belgium, the restart of BASF’s 650,000 tonne/year ammonia plant in Antwerp has been delayed by 7 days as technicians needed more time to finish the maintenance work. The unit is now expected back up early next week. As a result of the unexpected delay BASF has had to source another ammonia cargo which will be delivered on the Gas Cobia ex-Yuzhny.
In Tunisia, GCT has restarted phosphoric acid and limited DAP production. Only one DAP line is understood to have restarted, although there were some reports earlier that two lines had restarted but were running at low rates. Assuming one line runs through August, the next ammonia cargo is likely to be shipped in late August/early September.
In Tampa, Yara agreed the August price with its buyers at $560/tonne CFR, up $5/tonne from July on the back of firm Yuzhny prices and strong demand from the phosphates sector. The settlement was in line with expectations of a rollover to an increase of up to $10/tonne.
Asia:
East of Suez, buyers had been hoping that the recent restarts at the KPA plant in Indonesia and at Burrup in Australia would ease the supply tightness and possibly prices. However, prices have moved up further this week underlining the tight supply/demand fundamentals. Mitsui has purchased a mid-August cargo from Sabic partly under formula and partly fixed at $520/tonne FOB, up $5/tonne from last business out of the Middle East.
In India, CIFC agreed a price of $531/tonne CFR with 30 days’ credit with IFFCO for the 10,000 tonnes of Malaysian ammonia delivered to Paradeep on the Bunga Kemboja 24-25 July. The vessel then sailed to Haldia to deliver 5,000 tonnes to Tata Chem on behalf of Petronas priced at $533/tonne CFR with 30 days’ credit.
Sabic delivered 2,000 tonnes of Saudi ammonia to Hindalco/Dahej on the Rose Gas on 26 July priced at $529/tonne CFR with 60 days’ credit. The vessel is due to arrive at IFFCO/Kandla on 28 July to discharge around 7,000 tonnes on behalf of Kisan priced at $523.25/tonne CFR with 15 days’ credit. The third discharge port will be Sikka to deliver 14,000 tonnes to GSFC under its long term agreement with Sabic priced at $521/tonne CFR with 60 days’ credit.
The Eeklo arrived at Paradeep on 22 July to deliver 10,500 tonnes to IFFCO under a spot deal with Raintrade at $525/tonne CFR. The vessel is due to deliver around 13,600 tonnes to Kandla around 1 August under the same spot deal.
The Gaschem Stade is eta Kandla 4-5 August to deliver 6,500 tonnes to IFFCO under a spot deal with Raintrade agreed at $525/tonne CFR. The vessel already delivered around 17,000 tonnes to the Far East.
In Korea, following reports that SFC is now able to import Iranian ammonia, it is understood that Mitsui has no plans to ship from Iran under its contract with SFC. SFC was reported to be in talks with Raintrade for a direct supply agreement.
Buyers are receiving the following ammonia cargoes:
-SFC-
- 23,000 tonnes of Saudi ammonia from Sabic on the Camberley, 27 July
- 23,000 tonnes of Indonesian ammonia from Mitsubishi, mid August
- 8,000 tonnes of Saudi ammonia from Sabic on the Rose Gas, 2H August
- 23,000 tonnes from Mitsui, 25 August
-Namhae-
- 23,000 tonnes of Qatari ammonia from Qafco on the Tilos, 29 July
- 23,000 tonnes from Yara, end August
In Taiwan, demand is reported as stable. Raintrade is still offering a spot cargo, but no sale has been concluded.
TFC received 15,000 tonnes of ammonia from Sabic on the Al Barrah on 27 July, and is expecting 13,000 tonnes from Sabic on the Rose Gas 20-21 August and another 15,000 tonnes cargo from Sabic at the end of August.
CPDC is due to receive a 10,000 tonne Bangladeshi cargo from Mitsui on the Nashwan and then another 5,000 tonnes from Mitsui in the second week of August. The Gaz Millennium is due to deliver 9,000-10,000 tonnes in mid August.
Mitsubishi is due to deliver 23,500 tonnes of Iranian ammonia to Formosa on the Berlian Ekuator on 31 July. Current production rates at Formosa acrylonitrile plant in Mailiao are reported around 80%, but expected to ramp up next month.
In Indonesia, the KPA plant has now restarted after a month of maintenance. Mitsui will load the Gaz Millennium from Bontang in late July/early August for shipment to CPDC/Taiwan, Invista and a Japanese customer.
In Malaysia, the Bunga Kemboja is fixed to load 15,000 tonnes in Kerteh 10-14 August for shipment to east coast India. There are expectations that the vessel will load 9,000-10,000 tonnes earlier in the month for shipment to Thailand.
In Thailand, PTT Asahi Chemical has delayed the start-up of its new 200,000 tonne/year acrylonitrile plant in Map Ta Phut to August from July. There had been expectations that Mitsui would ship a cargo late July/early August, but its next delivery to PTT is not yet fixed.
In Vietnam, Mitsui has been awarded under Dinh Vu’s purchase tender at around $605/tonne CFR. The 7,000 tonne cargo is for September delivery.
In Australia, Mitsui has sold a 15,000 tonne spot cargo to Orica/Gladstone at $611/tonne CFR for first half August delivery. It is understood that Orica purchased the cargo to bridge requirements before the Saudi tonnes being shipped by Yara on the Viking River arrive.
Final bids for a 65% stake in Burrup Fertilisers had to be submitted by 22 July and media reports suggest Incitec Pivot and Orica submitted final bids. Burrup’s receivers PPB Advisory are expected to take two-three weeks to assess bids before selecting preferred bidders, but has not reported who submitted bids. Yara has the right to match the best bid for Burrup.
($1=€0.70)
This week on ICIS ( www.icis.com):
28/07/2011 18:19 Tampa ammonia increases 1% for August
28/07/2011 18:03 US Bunge looks for strong second half on biofuels, fertilizers
28/07/2011 13:11 PotashCorp’s Q2 net income soars 75% to $840m, sales up 62%
