Views: 15 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2022-07-27 Origin: Site
Granulated urea prices fell sharply in three major consuming regions and many major export centers as sellers scrambled for this week's purchases.
India’s buying tenders have minimum prices of $517/t cfr and $520/t cfr, well below previous levels in other markets but reflecting the reality that global supply exceeds demand.
Brazil was trading at $597/t cfr at the beginning of the week, but bids dropped to $530/t cfr following a tender in India. The US was also active, falling to around $520/t cfr at one point, but then recovered slightly as traders secured more barges for re-exports.
Producers in Russia, North Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia remain anxious for August, and prices may remain under pressure unless those demands are quickly eliminated.
market factors
producer length
Prices set in India's urea procurement tenders reflect the length of time between producers in most key export hubs, and the limited size of the tenders means there are still large unfinished urea inventories.
European gas prices
The crisis in the region's gas market continues to drive new trade flows, as the continent seeks to replace lost (or expensive) domestic nitrogen supplies with imports.
30-60 Day Outlook
The urea market appears set to continue to fluctuate between periods of extreme weakness and strength as it tries to balance the risks of oversupplied fundamentals, low consumer inventories and factory closures.
