Low demand and stagnant rise in urea

As buyers withdraw from the market, the trend of urea tends to flatten out, and the price in some regions even start to decline.

In some parts of Europe, Southeast Asia, and the United States, buyers seeking last-minute delivery before agricultural demand reaches its peak continue to provide support for cutting-edge prices, with Nora FOB $450/ton, Italy approaching CFR400/ton, and Myanmar CFR365/ton.

But further prices seem to be weak generally. In Nora, barges were traded at a discount of $150 per ton in June, while traders in most regions attempted to sell the good in June at a price of $10-20 per ton lower than the manufacturer's quoted price.

The liquidity of the ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate markets is very limited this week. Buyers expect prices to fall in June, so they hold a wait-and-see attitude generally. In addition, the increasing of nitrate prices in Europe and ammonium sulfate prices in China seem to have suppressed demand.

The market factors

Seasonal demand: Due to short-term supply constraints, immediate urea demand, especially in Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States, continues to support prices in the region.

Natural gas prices: On May 10th, the TTF benchmark fell to a 22-month low, below 33 euros/MWh, deepening the bottom line of nitrogen prices and weakening buyers' confidence in nitrogen prices in the third quarter。