Port operator Qube workers at Australia's Port of Brisbane have started a week-long strike today, which has likely already held up a urea shipment.
The work stoppage will affect break-bulk operations, slowing the flow of commodities like fertilizers, steel and vehicles. This comes as a months-long dispute with the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) drags on across several key ports.
The 42,493 deadweight tonne (dwt) Es Dignity, loaded with 32,559t of urea from Qatar, arrived near Brisbane on 7 January, according to trade analytics firm Kpler. This means the ship is unlikely to discharge on 8 January and will be delayed, according to market participants. The vessel previously discharged 8,397t of urea into Townsville on 2 January.
Urea is a key fertilizer imported into Australia, and vessels carrying urea typically make multi-port discharges when making deliveries into Australia. The 37,657dwt Tientsin delivered 10,000t of urea into Brisbane on 22 December 2024, after making two 10,000t deliveries into Portland and Newcastle earlier that month.
A urea supplier last offered granular urea at around A$760/t ($474/t) fca Brisbane this week. Urea prices in Australia have climbed rapidly in recent weeks, on the back of higher international fob levels in the Middle East and as a weaker Australian dollar made imports more expensive. Argus last assessed granular urea prices fca Geelong in Victoria at A$740-750/t (see graph), but market participants indicated prices are now higher.
But Australian demand for urea is currently low, so the delayed vessel is currently unlikely to impact local supply-demand dynamics significantly. A trader that regularly supplies Brisbane with urea cargoes expects the strikes to persist until at least March, when demand will have picked up and delays will have a larger impact.
Port Kembla
Qube and MUA have been negotiating an employment agreement since the middle of last year, prompting months of industrial action across the company's Australian ports. The Brisbane work stoppages come alongside an ongoing two-week work stoppage at Qube's facilities at Port Kembla, in New South Wales, which also affected break-bulk operations.
"The [MUA's] industrial action has effectively stopped Qube's port operations at Port Kembla and forced our customers to make alternative stevedoring arrangements," a company representative told Argus at the start of the Port Kembla strike.
The strikes at Port Kembla have had no impact on fertilizer deliveries so far, with GTT data showing no urea or phosphate deliveries made into the port in January or February in recent years.
