Terra back into the black

By Roger Chesher

LIKE both Hydro and Kemira, fourth-quarter results from Terra show a profit at last, an operating income of $4.1 million (2.8m) against a loss of $22.6m in 1999.

Again as with Hydro and Kemira, these figures represent the worldwide activities of the company and it is not possible to distil out the profit made in the UK.

The operating income has improved in Britain however, with the company reporting a 19m improvement over 1999.

With a “typical UK operation” estimation of a 14m loss in 1999, this improvement suggests Terra will be modestly in the black again for the end of 2000.

The UK manufacturers will now have been in the black for five of the last eleven years.

Little has changed on the home front. Domestic nitrogen goes on-farm at 130-132/t, but very little is moving.

Are we seeing a standoff; can the market really wait until the usage period in March/April?

There are still 600,000 tonnes of business out there, say the main operators, and they see no reason whatsoever to waver from published terms.

The import market is just beginning to be more reactive with slightly more realistic prices for new cargoes of 108-110/t c.i.f., putting the lowest price on farm at 124/t.

In Ireland, the market is beginning to talk prices, but with a similar hold-off on orders, published prices still mean little.

CURRENT PRICES

IRELAND