Fertiliser Focus – 28th September 2020

Urea  

As we speculated in Fertiliser Focus last week, India has delayed announcing a new purchase tender. Prices from the Arab Gulf traded higher earlier last week in anticipation of an announcement, which failed to materialise. This is a buying opportunity for UK markets as levels are around £ 10 lower than those seen in mid-August. Much will depend on currency in the short term, holding out for a return to levels seen in late spring could be a risky strategy as many believe it is a case of when India return to the market and not if, we must not forget that South American countries such as Brazil are very likely to come to the market before then end of the year too. This delay may also give an opportunity for Chinese producers to complete earlier commitments on recent tenders.

Potash

It is not just Urea that India release tenders for but also Potash, recently awarding BPC Belarus Potash Company a contract for 25 K tonnes. BPC had been in the news recently due to strikes following political unrest. This shows great confidence in BPC that production will be consistent in the final quarter of 2020. Prices remain stable for Potash as European demand slows heading into winter. The next round of big contract negotiations that will move Potash markets are expected in early 2020.

Yara Arable Webinar

Yara’s latest Arable Autumn Nutrition Webinar is available to view on demand now as a recording, Jon Telfer – Development Manager, Yara Analytical Services discusses grain analysis and the many useful tests that can be done to help crop nutrition. Natalie Wood – Arable Agronomist for Yara UK & Ireland discussed keeping the momentum going for Oilseed Rape. Also  covered was the effect on Phosphate availability according to soil temperature,                           

                                       

NRM Soil Summary 2019-2020     

NRM Laboratories released its annual soil summary last week. Figures for Phosphorous show 32% of soils tested were at the target value of Index 2, this is up slightly from 31% from last year. 25% of soils were below target level the same as last year. Potash levels were also at 32% at target level, up from 30% last year, 27% of samples were less than Index 2- compared to 32% in 2018-19. This data as well as longer terms trends and a look at trace element levels seen in samples can be downloaded by clicking the link below:-

https://www.cawoodscientific.uk.com/nrm/download/

Limus

As drilling winter cereals starts around the country, it will soon be time to finalise plans for Nitrogen requirements. Limus® protected Urea provides a solution to managing the unpredictable weather conditions in spring. Limus® combines COFCO quality Granular Urea with BASF patented polymer formulation of dual active urease inhibitors to give the same performance as A.N at much more competitive prices. A huge amount of information is still available at BASF Real Results Virtual Farm, click on the link below to discover more.

https://basfrealresultsfarm.com/en_GB/zones/83eb23e0-2bc6-4399-9fb8-27c307f2d7b7/features/nitrogen-management