Fertiliser Focus – 8th June 2020

Ammonium Nitrate                               

Trading began last week briskly as the new season  for UK Ammonium Nitrate continued where it left off after its launch on 28^th May. CF soon filled up the August delivery option after selling all the September tonnes on day one. Activity slowed somewhat in the second half of last week as those buyers willing to cover tonnage early seemed to disappear as the week progressed. So, after a week and two days of trading the price has not altered at all, the only development is the withdrawal of August and September options.               

Liquid N.S

The liquid manufacturers are expected to reveal their new-season summer tank fill UAN solution prices early this week. Despite a difficult early spring with wet weather making first applications on liquids very difficult,  the number of growers looking to  convert to liquid fertiliser is still increasing. There are many drivers for this trend, the ability to increase tram lines to 36 metres while applying product with an even greater degree of accuracy is the main reason. However, there are other additional benefits not always recognised until a full discussion is had. Better utilisation of space on farm, no longer is a store tied up with solid fertiliser for nine or ten months. No more plastic waste to contended with. To discuss further please call Russ Davison on 07825 925485 to find out more.                     

Urea

Not surprisingly the urea market in the UK has been on the back burner as all the focus recently has been on Ammonium Nitrate. The direction of the urea market over the next few months is very much going to be driven by China in terms of production, and by India in terms of demand. The key question with China is, will their production levels and ability to export return to levels seen pre Covid19? This will be tested soon as India look likely to return to the urea market. Total nitrogen demand has been good in India with sales forecasted to go up following good predictable monsoon conditions arriving. If  China again do not feature in the next Indian tender this could mean firmer replacement prices for UK markets as North African producers will take full advantage to supply. Now that we have the full picture on Nitrogen prices in the UK, Urea and the protected Urea Limus® are very competitive for both the traditional urea buyer and the grower looking to save money against an A.N based system. Other benefits are later delivery helping on both space and cashflow. Less product to handle and as mentioned in the liquids section less plastic waste to get rid of.

New Limus® + S Grade

For a simple one product system useful for feed and milling wheat, we have developed a new Limus® + Sulphur grade 42N 9SO3, more to follow next week on the many benefits of this system.