All quiet on the fertiliser front
FERTILISER TRADE is now extremely quiet, according to market commentators.
Certainly there are very few takers at the August price, given that the market started so low at £117/t or so in July.
Manufacturers must now be pondering how to raise prices to cover the massive increase in production costs, which are set to double between summer and winter.
To cover the projected gas price for the fourth quarter of the year would mean ammonium nitrate on farm at £150/t, a massive hike from today’s £124.
Few think that it will actually get that far, but £140/t could well be on the cards.
No surprise, therefore that there was a rush to book cheaper supplies earlier in the season, and borrow money too, if necessary to pay for it.
As merchants sort out their order books, no doubt much of the early tonnage will be switched to various forms of credit.
And it appears that such borrowing will pay.
Most merchants have access to some form of point-of-sale credit and Dalgety has this week (w/e July 30) announced its newly branded deal with Kemira and ING with finance at base rate.
This follows Dalgety‘s recent appointment as Kemira GrowHow distributor.
But that appointment was made before the new season and the announcement of the scheme this week might be seen by some as poor timing, implying as it might that manufacturers are injecting money into a market where they have already taken a hammering.
All of this is good for farmers who can take delivery. But whether borrowing will benefit the grass sector – who without space would need to pay for storage and finance – is a hard one to call.
Nitrogen (Domestic) N (SP5) 34.5% | New season | Imported urea. | Imported AN Lithan | Blended | Blended | Liquid | |||||||||||
August £121-123 | £130
| No market yet | No market yet | £127 | From £124 | No market yet | |||||||||||
NPK | July | Imported 27.6.6 | Imported | |||||||||
Complex 25.5.5 | £130 | £138 | £125 | |||||||||
15.15.20 | £155 |
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20.10.10/ 29.5.5 | £134 |
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17.17.17 | £160 |
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| Trace elements | 0.24.24 | TSP (47%P2O5) | Muriate of Potash (60%K2O) |
| Copper, zinc, selenium, cobalt Iodine and sodium Per acre pack £11.10 | New season £131 | £140 | £127 |
Ireland
Benchmark prices
Northern | Urea, existing stocks only | CAN | 24.6.12 aftercut | 25.5.5
| Complex compounds |
| £155-60 | £130-34 | £160 (anticipated) | £150-52 | £160-62 |
Republic of | CAN, large price variations | 24.2½.10 blend | Urea | 27. 2.5 5 | |
| €195 | €190-210 (Russian) €225-240 | €200-250 (dependant on source and quality) | €243 (CCF) €200 import blend | |
*Note in the Republic of Ireland nutrients are expressed as elements not oxides. Analyses will not be directly comparable with those used in the UK.
Note All illustrated prices are based upon 24 tonne loads for immediate payment. Prices for smaller loads and those with credit terms will vary considerably.
Source: Bridgewater
