This week, Brazilian consumers are showing moderate demand for phosphates, but suppliers have raised MAP prices due to limited export volumes. The latest sales deals for MAP 11:52/12:52 have been signed at $565/t C&F for shipments in December.
In late October-early November, Egyptian plants have been offering granular urea at $410-420/t FOB. AlexFert and MOPCO each have sold 5,000 t of granular fertilizer at $410/t FOB for shipments in November. Meanwhile, Abu Qir offers prilled urea at $400/t FOB.
Quotes for imported high-calorie thermal coal have fallen in West Europe. Despite the upcoming season of active consumption, trade has not perked up significantly. Players have reported the signed deal for the supply of coal in December, as well as offers from Kazakhstan.
Prices for imported steel scrap are on the rise in Turkey despite the unfavorable situation on the markets of finished and semi-finished steel products. ISM sources have reported several fresh deals this week.
Iron ore quotes keep growing in China despite steadily low demand. Prices are supported by improved economic forecasts and concerns about possible shortage of imported iron ore (the Australian Mining and Energy Union said train drivers at BHP Group’s iron ore assets were preparing for strikes).
In the USA, export quotes for soybeans have shown an upturn due to strong Chinese demand. Analysts say China’s oilseed imports will remain strong in Q4 and total shipments in 2023 will be a record.
In the Black Sea region, sunflower oil is offered within $855-860/t CIF Mersin for shipments in November and at $870/t CIF Iskenderun for shipments in November-December. The number of relevant offers is limited. No signed deals have been reported over the week.
Winter harvesting continues in Australia. Chinese demand for wheat is growing. Reportedly, China purchased about 2 million t of new crop Australian wheat in October (shipments will start in December).
Prices for Russian wheat are virtually unchanged, while export quotes for barley have inched up. For the first time in the current season, SovEcon analysts have cut their forecast of Russian wheat exports in MY 2023-24, reducing the estimate by 400,000 t to 48.8 million t.
Trade remains slow on the Kazakh grain market. The situation remains difficult as this season the quality of harvested grain is low due to the rainy fall. Only half of the harvested wheat (about 5 million t) is of milling quality, so the presence of Russian grain will only be growing both on the… Read more »