Views: 2 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2019-02-26 Origin: Site
The strength of North Africa is unlikely to spread
The urea market activity this week is concentrated in North Africa and Europe. Last weekend, the price in Egypt fell to the FOB $235/ ton, the time is short but enough to sell 70,000 to 80,000 tons, and then rebounded to FOB $ 250/ ton.
Prices in Algeria have also risen, with large-particle urea trading in the region exceeding 200,000 tons this week. The question now is, is there any other source of goods that can follow North Africa? The answer may be no. On Wednesday, the FOB price of urea in the Middle East was $235 per ton, which is the price of the Gulf of America.
This week, Brazil's falls to $230/ton, and Brazil's CFR price fells to $250/ton on Thursday.
Demand in key markets in Asia and South America remains low, not enough to support continued price increases.
Market driver
Short-covering - the price of urea in Egypt has reached a profitable level of short-selling urea in Turkey and Europe. Most of the open positions in March were replenished.
US - Cold weather and logistics problems put pressure on the prices.
The Asian market is slow – the enquiries of 6-8000 tons of crude oil in Sri Lanka and the Philippines are the highlights of this week, showing how depressed the eastern market is.
30-60 days outlook
Traders questioned how much the price could fall, and prices have fallen to $50-60/ton in the past month. But lack of liquidity means that any spot inquiry will see a very positive offer.
Prices in some regions will stabilize, but generally continue to weaken.
