Ammonium Sulfate: International Market Trend of Ammonium Sulfate in the 3rd Week of November 2018
Source: Zhongyu Information Date: 2018-11-23 16:50:14
11.15-11.22 International Market Trends (from foreign sources)
Turkey: Turkish buyers finally returned to the market before the spring. Buyers said that China’s caprolactam-grade ammonium sulphate is priced at around $140/tonne CFR, and Korean caprolactam-grade ammonium sulphate is tax-free at $150/ton. Toros ended the tender for 40,000 tons of ammonium sulphate on November 21. Bestwin will supply 21,000 tons of caprolactam-grade ammonium sulfate and 14,000 tons of granular ammonium sulfate from China, which will arrive in January and the price is not disclosed. It is said that Alp-Ates purchased 45,000 tons of caprolactam-grade ammonium sulfate from South Korea, and the price is higher than $150/ton cfr tax-included letter of credit payment. There is a single 30,000 tons of bulk ammonium sulphate on the market that will be loaded from December 1-15 in the Nemrut Bay on the east coast of the United States.
Ukraine: In the past two weeks, two Ukrainian buyers have been looking for about 3,000 tons of standard ammonium sulphate. Approximately 700 tons of bagged Polish ammonium sulphate was sold at 6150 hryvnia/ton fca Kovel, the rest from Ukraine BNH, and the bulk price was 6000 hryvnia/ton cpt Sarny. Ukrainian BNH is expected to import about 10,000 tons of standard ammonium sulphate from Belarus in November, most of which will be sold to local crush granule manufacturers.
Baltic: Grodno Azot’s export of ammonium sulphate may continue to decline. Belagrofert’s second production line of extruded granules in Grodno in September is expected to reach full capacity production in December. According to market participants, the first production is about 13,000 tons / month, and the raw material demand of producers will soon increase to about 26,000 tons / month. Grodno Azot produces 400,000 tons/year of standard ammonium sulfate at full capacity. Production in November is expected to be 33,000 tons. According to traders, due to the sale of Grupa Azoty’s Pulawy factory, Poland’s ammonium sulfate could not be shipped to Ukraine in December.
Northwestern Europe: In the case of a tight supply, sellers reported strong demand for crystalline ammonium sulphate in North-West Europe. The German river has a low water level and reduces the number of barges, but this should gradually ease as the area’s rainfall increases. The standard ammonium sulphate price is stable at 125-130 Euro/ton FOB Antwerp and the 2mm particle ammonium sulfate price is stable at 160-165 Euro/ton FOB Antwerp. High-quality 3mm ammonium sulfate exports, especially in Brazil and the United States, were delivered in February at the latest offer of 210 Euro/ton FOB Antwerp.
Vietnam: The active price of this week’s buying was 138-140 US dollars / ton CFR in bulk and 135 US dollars / ton CFR in containers. Apromaco is requesting a price of 12,000 tons of caprolactam-grade ammonium sulphate and is associated with HCMC with a purchase price of up to $130/tonne CFR. In October 2018, Vietnam imported 86,482 tons of ammonium sulphate, down 16% from 103,472 tons in the same period in 2017. Total imports from January to October fell 28% from the 1.12 million tons in the first ten months of 2017 to 802,739 tons.
China: The price of caprolactam-grade ammonium sulfate this week is 116-119 US dollars / ton FOB China. Under some equipment maintenance and environmental pressures, China’s operating rate has been maintained at an average of 60%. Some producers have pushed prices up to $120-123/ton FOB China, but there is currently no confirmed sales. As the last few transactions were transferred to Brazil, traders began to push prices to $114-115/tonne FOB, but producers have not yet lowered their offer to this level. According to the quality, the price of granular ammonium sulfate is kept at 148-158 US dollars / ton FOB. Fitco is loading a shipment in Nanjing, supplying 20,000 tons of granular ammonium sulphate and 5,000 tons of extruded ammonium sulphate to Brazil.
Brazil: Brazil’s demand for ammonium sulphate slows as the buying season ends. The Safrinha season will start early, which means that some of the last items will arrive soon. Traders with Chinese ammonium sulphate are sorting out the last batch of goods, while European producers with shorter sailing times are completing orders for December. China’s high-quality extruded granular ammonium sulfate price is 195-200 US dollars / ton CFR, low-quality sales price is 190 US dollars / ton CFR or less. European producers sell for $205/tonne CFR and their next sales target is $210-215/tonne CFR. The standard grade is quoted at $155-158/tonne CFR. This week, Longview Dynasty shipped more than 30,000 tons of Chinese ammonium sulphate from Allied Harvest. As of the end of December, Brazil’s 14 ships showed 437,000 tons of ammonium sulfate. This is an increase of 10,000 tons from last week. Except for a batch of goods from Belgium, all goods are from China.
