Urea
At the time of writing shippers, traders and manufacturers are waiting the response from India for the RCF (Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers) tender which closed on 9th October. What is known is that a massive 3.6M tonnes have been offered. However, at this stage we do not know at what pricing levels. India would be unlikely to purchase 3.6M tonnes in one go, logistically that would be improbable if not impossible. How much is bought will of course be dictated by the price, but there is no guarantee that because a huge volume has been offered that the price is lower than expected. We could see another round of brinkmanship which is what we saw the last time this type of scenario occurred.
Ammonium Nitrate
CF are still absent from the market and are expected by many to remain so for possibly another week. With enquiries from farm still slow as growers have had a stop start drilling campaign so far. This could turn around quickly however if the weather improves.
Did you know ?
The food base of half of the current world population is based on the Haber-Bosch process .
Global Fertilizer Day
Tuesday October 13th is Global Fertilizer Day and commemorates the Haber-Bosch patent on the synthesis of Ammonia from air in 1908. Fritz Haber was presented the Nobel Prize in 1918 for his work in chemistry. The Food Heroes campaign recognises the efforts of all agri-food workers, especially during the difficult on-going challenges posed by Covid-19, the campaign can be followed on social media such as twitter by using the #FoodHeroes as can Global Fertilizer Day by using #FertilizerDay. For more details click on the link at the bottom of this column.
Economic Data as at close on Friday 9th October v (2nd October 2020) £ = $1.3008 ($ 1.2938) £ = € 1.1004 (€ 1.1044) Crude Oil = $ 43.32 ($ 39.86) Natural Gas = $2.76 ($2.51) Please treat pricing on graphs as a guide, please use quote request form for an up to date price.