Views: 71 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2019-08-14 Origin: Site
Black Sea, Baltic Sea
There is no new sales report for caprolactam grade AS this week.
NLMK sold 2,000 tons of steel grade AS to Granmax at $117-119/ton to be shipped in August.
Due to the increased seasonal demand of local farmers and the steady demand for compound fertilizer production, the export of steel grade AS produced in Russia during the period from September to November will decrease.
LV Agro's new extrusion granule plant in Liepaja will be commissioned on August 9 with a capacity of 15,000-17,000 tons/month. The plant started to postpone from the end of July.
Northwestern Europe
The demand for AS by compound fertilizer producers and extruded granules is high, coupled with the lower start-up of caprolactam plants, and the price of AS in northwestern Europe remains firm. Fibran has sold 3,000 tons of standard AS to European buyers at €128/tonne FOB, which will be shipped in August.
Some forward sales of standard products will be shipped in the first quarter of next year.
Due to holidays and farmers busy receiving goods, the current granularAS trade is light. OCI sells a limited amount of 3mm granular AS in France, which will be delivered by car in August at a price of 217 euros/ton CPT, which is about 3 euros/ton higher than in July.
In Germany, OCI offers 3mm granular AS at a price of 210 Euro/ton CIF and 2mm 188 Euro/ton CIF. Standard grade AS is priced at €125/tonne CIF.
The price of granular AS is expected to remain firm in Europe in August, and demand will increase in September.
Romania
Egypt's bulk granular AS is priced at $200-205/tonne CFR, and Elixir offers bagged granular AS to the Danube port at a price of €196-198/tonne CFR.
China
Due to tight supply, the price of AS is still strong in China. The operating rate of the caprolactam plant in China is around 75%, and the target price of the producer is $117-118/ton FOB and above, which is the new price for shipment in September.
The price of extruded granularAS is between $144-146/ton and $151-153/ton CFR. Due to the weak demand for local extruded pellets, this week's steel grade AS was lowered by 5-10 yuan/ton to 630-635 yuan/ton.
It is reported that a trader has already purchased 45,000 tons of standard grade AS in the market, and will ship cargo from China to the port of Lobito in Angola from August 5th to 15th. For Angola, this is a very large import.
Taiwan, China
Due to the weakness of the capolac-tam market, the operating rate of the caprolactam plant in Taiwan has dropped to around 55%. This has reduced the supply in Southeast Asia and provided additional support for Chinese prices.
Taiwan exported 150,000 tons of AS in January-May, down from 196,000 tons in the same period last year. The main importers are Malaysia, 77,000 tons (down from 91,000 tons), Indonesia 32,000 tons (4.4 million tons) and Vietnam 32,000 tons (51,000 tons).
Indonesia
From August 8th to 13th, a ship in Fuzhou loaded 6,000 tons of AS and shipped to the Iloilo and Davao districts of Philippines.
Vietnam
A inquiry for the shipment (from August 12th to 20th ) of 11,000-12,000 tons of AS from Fuzhou to Guiren Port in Vietnam on has been circulated in the market.
Brazil
Buyers in Brazil are still waiting to see the outcome of negotiations between China and the United States, and only sporadic sales remain unchanged. China's extruded granularAS is priced at $175-180/tonne CFR, while the standard AS is quoted at $142-145/tonne CFR.
European producers have not priced goods shipped to Brazil in September and are expected to trade in the coming weeks. The latest sales in July are: the price of standard AS is 147-149 US dollars / ton, and the price of granular AS is 197-199 US dollars / ton CFR. Suppliers have slightly increased their target for September.
Brazil’s imports have increased this year
From January to July, Brazil imported 1.3 million tons of AS, an increase of 21% over the same period last year. Shipments from China increased by 32% to 865,000 tons, accounting for about 67% of total imports. Belgium remains the second largest supplier with a total delivery of 236,000 tons, an increase of 15%. Since the beginning of this year, the United States has exported 90,000 tons of AS to Brazil, which has doubled its exports.
United States
AdvanSix has repaired m/v Achilles Bulker, which will load 25,000-26,000 tons of AS in Brazil for Paranagua and Grande in August at a price of $129.5/ton.
AdvanSix plans to increase exports in the third quarter due to lower seasonal demand for AS in the US market. According to customs data, the total export volume of AS in Virginia Port was 208,967 tons in the third quarter of last year, most of which was exported to Latin America.
The wet weather limited the demand for farmers in the second quarter of the United States, but AdvanSix reported that sales of AS were basically the same as last year. The company's AS business accounted for 27% of total sales, about $93 million, 21% higher than last year, $84 million.
European suppliers are discussing the supply of granular AS to the United States from August to September.
At the same time, representatives of US traders held a public hearing on August 5th to discuss possible tariffs on a range of EU products, including AS. The deadline for submitting a rebuttal after the hearing is August 12.
