Fertilizer Market Report – January 17, 2024

Insights into India’s Urea Tender, Sustainable Crops in Saskatchewan, and More

Fertilizer Market Report 2024/01/17 | In this week’s fertilizer report: India urea tender tonnes, Saskatchewan farmers produce some of the world’s most sustainable crops, recent North American fertilizer price settlements, and industry tidbits.

News of the Week

India

India’s National Fertilizers Ltd. (NFL) called a urea tender which closed on January 4, 2024. The final volume settled at 647,000 mt with a shipping deadline of February 29. This volume is neutral to the global urea market in our view. We believe that shipping issues in the Red Sea will continue to prop up global urea prices.

Saskatchewan farmers produce some of the world’s most sustainable crops

The University of Saskatchewan commissioned a two-part study in 2022 to examine the carbon footprint of canola, non-durum wheat, field peas, durum wheat and lentils. The result – Saskatchewan farmers are producing some of the least carbon-intensive crops in Canada and the world.

The collaborative research, undertaken in partnership with the Food Systems PRISM Lab at the University of British Columbia, adhered to established protocols for assessing the carbon life cycle of agricultural production. It gathered and analyzed data on carbon dioxide equivalent emissions related to various aspects of crop production, encompassing transportation, seed, fertilizer and manure inputs, crop inputs, field activities, energy emissions, and post-harvest work. The carbon life cycle analysis took into account crucial information regarding the capacity of the agricultural landscape to facilitate soil-based carbon sequestration. The findings revealed that Saskatchewan boasts the smallest carbon footprint across all crop types and regions studied when considering soil carbon sequestration.

North America Urea Last Week

According to Green Markets, urea prices were flat WoW at C$660-$670/mt delivered in Western Canada.

Urea offer from a dealer near Regina was C$630/mt FOB on Tuesday.

We believe that this delivered price in Western Canada is just about the best you will find. We recommended averaging in your urea purchases a few months ago. We now recommend you fill your bins. Prices will likely not get much better than this heading into the spring spot market.

NOLA urea continues to show higher prices week over week heading into the spring season with January in a range of US$304-$310/mt and February at US$310-$320/mt, up from last week’s US$300-$312/mt.

North America Phosphate Last Week

According to Green Markets, the latest MAP offers in Western Canada were flat WoW in a range of C$1,065-$1,085/mt DEL.

We are still worried about import supply issues into Western Canada. Again, we recommend you fill your bins rather than wait for spot prices in the spring delivery season.

MAP NOLA prices were up US$5/mt on the low end to a range of US$625-$630/mt from the previous range of US$620-$630/mt.

Industry Tidbits
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