Yara lifts calcium ammonium nitrate offers to NW Europe

: Fertilizers
24/12/09

Norwegian fertilizer major Yara has announced its latest price for calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) for January delivery to German and Benelux markets, higher by €12/t from offers for December delivery.

Yara has upped its CAN 27 offer to €317/t cif Germany and Benelux for January delivery, from €305/t cif for December.

The upward revision follows firmer European natural gas prices, and an according increase in ammonia production costs, in recent months. Argus' day-ahead assessment of gas at the TTF closed at just over $14.2/mn Btu on 6 December, up from around $12/mn Btu at the start of September.

Argus assessed spot prices for CAN 27 in Germany at €295-300/t cif inland on 5 December, with slower activity last week and limited buyer interest at prices above €300/t.

By Harry Minihan

Related news posts

Argus illuminates the markets by putting a lens on the areas that matter most to you. The market news and commentary we publish reveals vital insights that enable you to make stronger, well-informed decisions. Explore a selection of news stories related to this one.

24/12/11

Ice AOA ammonia contract volumes pass 26,500t

London, 11 December (Argus) — The Ice Ammonia Outright — Argus Ammonia (AOA) northwest Europe cfr future contract has surpassed 25,000t traded, reaching 26,500t on 9 December. The Ice AOA futures contract was launched on 16 January 2023 and settles against a calendar-month average of the daily Argus northwest Europe cfr duty free price. The contract's block trade minimum threshold is five lots. One lot is the equivalent of 100t. Since the contract launched, all trades have gone through FIS brokers and cleared through Ice. "Ammonia's role in the energy transition highlights its potential as a cornerstone of low-carbon energy solutions, and we are optimistic about the bright future for this product," FIS ammonia and fertilizer broker Kieran Walsh said. Ammonia is gaining traction as a potential method of decarbonising energy sectors, by producing it using renewable energy sources or through carbon capture and storage techniques. It can potentially be used directly as a fuel source in the marine sector, for co-firing in power generation or as a hydrogen carrier. More than 3mn t of physical ammonia has been imported into northwest Europe so far in 2024, according to Argus line-up data . Europe as a whole accounts for about a fifth of global ammonia imports, or about 4mn-5mn t/yr. By Ruth Sharpe Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

India’s Fact issues tender to buy NPK and NPS

24/12/09

India’s Fact issues tender to buy NPK and NPS

London, 9 December (Argus) — Indian fertilizer importer Fact has issued a tender to buy 15,000t each of 15-15-15 and 20-20-0+13S, plus or minus 10pc of the respective quantities, closing on 16 December. The company has requested shipment of the 15-15-15 to Tuticorin port and the 20-20-0+13S to New Mangalore port from 15-25 January next year. Fact last month issued a purchase tender for 20,000t of 20-20-0+13S, after having received no offers in its previous tender for the product. Again, no offers were submitted for this tender by the closing date on 25 November. Fact last month also requested 40,000t of 15-15-15. The company received one offer under this tender, but the offer price was not opened. By Aidan Hall Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

US House panel approves river infrastructure bill

24/12/06

US House panel approves river infrastructure bill

Houston, 6 December (Argus) — A US House of Representatives committee has approved a bipartisan bill that authorizes improvements to navigation channels by the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and maintenance and dredging of river and port infrastructure projects. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) after several months of political wrangling to integrate earlier versions of the legislation approved by the House and Senate . The bill will head to the full House next week, said committee chairman Sam Graves (R-Missouri). This would be the sixth consecutive bipartisan WRDA bill since 2014 if passed by congress. WRDA is a biennial bill that authorizes the Corps to continue working on projects to improve waterways, including port updates, flood protection and supply chain management. WRDA will also "reduce cumbersome red tape", which will allow for quicker project turnarounds, Graves said. The bill authorizes processes to streamline work, he said. The bill also adjusts the primary cost-sharing mechanism for funding for lock and dam construction and major rehabilitation projects. The US Treasury Department's general fund will pay 75pc of costs, up from 65pc, with the rest coming from the Inland Waterways Trust Fund, which is funded by a barge diesel fuel tax. By Meghan Yoyotte Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Newly agreed EU, Mercosur FTA faces uphill battle

24/12/06

Newly agreed EU, Mercosur FTA faces uphill battle

Montevideo, 6 December (Argus) — The EU and South America's Mercosur closed a free-trade agreement (FTA) nearly 25 years in the making, but there is still a long road to ratification. Uruguayan president Luis Lacalle and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced the deal at a Mercosur summit in Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital. The presidents of the three other Mercosur founding members — Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay — were present. The FTA will remove tariffs on more than 90pc of goods among the members. Von der Leyen called the agreement a historic milestone that would benefit 700mn consumers. She said the agreement "is not only a trade agreement, but also a political necessity." Lacalle said "an agreement of this kind is not a magical solution, but an opportunity." Leaders recognized that the agreement still has major hurdles to clear as it requires approval from member states. The agreement will go to legal review and translation in the next month in view of its future signing, according to the Mercosur-EU declaration. While the Mercosur countries are in favor of the agreement, opposition is strong in France, Poland and several smaller EU states. Argentinian president Javier Milei, who supports the agreement, criticized Mercosur as a block. "Mercosur, which was born with the idea of deepening our commercial ties, ended up like a prison that does not allow its members to take advantage of their comparative advantages or export potential," he said. Van der Leyen said that more than 60,000 businesses, half of them small, export to Mercosur. The EU exported $59bn to Mercosur in 2023, while Mercosur's four founding members shipped $57bn to the EU. She also stressed the importance of EU investment in Mercosur, including in sustainable mining, renewable energy and sustainable forestry. Brazilian president Luiz Lula da Silva said during the summit that the region had to take advantage of its resources, including agriculture and energy. The four Mercosur countries are major food producers, including crops such as corn, soy and sugarcane, used for biofuels. Brazil is the world's top soy producer, while Argentina is third, Paraguay sixth and Uruguay in the 14th spot. Bolivia, which joined Mercosur in July, is the 10th producer. Brazil is a major mineral producer and Argentina is slowly beginning to strengthen its mining sector. It has the world's second-largest lithium resources. Argentina is also beginning to monetize its unconventional gas formation, Vaca Muerta, the second largest in the world with 308 trillion cf of reserves. It is working on different LNG projects, with a focus on exports to Europe. The Mercosur countries also have in common plans for low-carbon hydrogen production, which also see the EU as an export market for value-added products, such as fertilizers. By Lucien Chauvin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Q&A: Oman OQ’s fourth IPO draws firm investor interest

24/12/06

Q&A: Oman OQ’s fourth IPO draws firm investor interest

Muscat, 6 December (Argus) — Oman's state-owned OQ raised 188mn Omani riyals ($489mn) from its fourth initial public offering (IPO) this year with a "good mix of both international and local investors" flocking to the company's chemical and LPG subsidiary, OQ Base Industries (OQBI). OQBI's chief executive Khalid Al Asmi spoke to Argus at the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association forum in Muscat about the company's expansion plans and its emission reduction targets. Shares in OQBI are expected to begin trading on the Muscat Stock Exchange on 15 December. OQBI has seen strong interest from some of the largest investors in Oman. How would you evaluate the investor interest so far? If we look into the overall average of the offering, the IPO price was 2.1 times oversubscribed by both retail and institutional investors, Looking at the trend of investors, it was a good mix of both international and local investors. The fact that the investors believed in our story by buying off our shares implies the trust that they have on our company and on our future plans. Are there any capacity expansion plans or new any projects in the pipeline for next year? We do not have any projects in line for next year. However, we have non-committed projects that are awaiting FID and other approvals from the shareholders. We are looking at a brownfield expansion project to increase our current methanol plant capacity by 50pc to 550,000 t/yr. In it, we are also exploring technologies for decarbonisation and carbon capture. Our aim is to get this project up and running by 2028. We have done an initial study and it was concluded that the project is valuable. How would you view the long-term outlook for petrochemical markets? The market segments that we are operating — methanol, ammonia and LPG— are all expected to grow in the future. Ammonia has already started penetrating into the marines [sector], same with methanol. LPG will grow to around 39mn t/yr by 2030. So the market is still hungry for our products. That will support the prices, which would either go up or go in line with the GDP. Looking forward, we are not worried about the markets, based on the available information that we have. How does OQBI's strategy fit into Oman's clean energy transition plans? We have both short-term and long-term targets for carbon emission reductions. For the near term, we expect to reduce our carbon footprint by 25pc by 2030 from our base target that was set in 2023. So far, we have reduced our energy intensity by 0.3mn Btu/t produced and now we are targeting 1.1mn Btu in 2025. By 2030, it would be a 25pc reduction. There is growing interest in green ammonia and blue methanol, how is OQBI positioned to capitalise on the interest? We are very well-positioned to capitalise on the shift. We have an ambitious growth target for both blue methanol and green ammonia for 2030 and beyond. That is in line with the net zero target that was set by the government of Oman. We currently have plans to start the transit but that will only happen when the right time comes. When the 365,000 t/yr ammonia plant was built, we took into consideration the need to achieve zero Scope 1 emissions. So the transition from ammonia to green is doable. When it comes to methanol, we will always rely on gas, so green methanol is not an option. But when the time comes, it can also be converted into blue methanol. How is methanol demand looking in the markets you are targeting? When we are referring to the market we are supplying to, we don't deal with the market directly. We are leveraging on the outreach of OQ Trading, which is considered one of the top five methanol traders globally. OQ Trading has a global reach from markets in Asia to Europe and even the Americas. The market is always dynamic and we will always target the market that gives us the highest netback. Currently, Asia is more profitable but tomorrow it could be somewhere else. By Rithika Krishna Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Business intelligence reports

Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.

Learn more