Market and product

Several ammonia spot sales were concluded by leading players this week as traders and end users raced to secure cargoes ahead of scheduled plant shutdowns in the Arabian Gulf.

Amid talk two of its facilities will soon go offline, Qatar’s Muntajat agreed two formula-priced CFR (cost and freight) deals with separate suppliers for nearly 50,000 tonnes and remains in the market for similar cargoes for May loading.

Neither of those cargoes will go to India, but spot deals were concluded on both coasts as PPL/Paradip acquired 15,000 tonnes of Indonesian material from Mitsui priced under formula, and IFFCO/Kandla bought about 5,000 tonnes of Iranian product from Transagri.

With seasonal demand from the US yet to move into top gear, the Black Sea and Baltic supply/demand situation remains balanced for now.

East of Suez, the Arabian Gulf is tight due to imminent maintenance at several plants Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Trammo was very active with spot business concluded in France – from Borealis – the Black Sea, Korea and Venezuela.

The trader is interested in Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore’ (FACT) India’s 11 April tender for 7,500 tonnes (+/- 5%) for arrival at the west coast port of Kochi (Cochin) between 14 and 20 April.

One of Trammo’s sales was to Korea’s Hanwha, but the cargo will not come from Pupuk Kaltim as the trader was unsuccessful in its attempt to secure 15,000 tonnes under the Indonesian manufacturer’s 4 April sales tender.

Mitsui was awarded at $345/tonne FOB (free on board) Bontang – slightly higher than a deal between the same pair late last month.

Maintenance at caprolactam (capro) and acrylonitrile (ACN) plants in Taiwan have suppressed spot activity, meaning Koch may abandon its attempts to sell 15,000-20,000 tonnes of Baltic material on a spot basis and instead look to secure a spot cargo on a CFR basis for Korea’s LFC rather than send a large vessel such a long way for just a part delivery.

In the US, some crop regions achieved slight advancements in planting and ammonia applications, but a continuance of wet weather left the majority of work uncompleted.

This could diminish any leverage sellers had hoped to exert in negotiations over the Tampa price for May loadings, amid talk of strong demand due to a higher corn forecast.

In Venezuela, Pequiven sold up to 23,400 tonnes of spot ammonia to Trammo for 9 April loading for discharge at Mejillones, Chile, for a long term client.