The Urea market is still a nervous one, and the pace at which the market has been chased down has certainly surprised many. Granular Urea is recognised as a product to apply early – that means it will need to be on farm in February.

With the Christmas break and January being a short month, this will start to put pressure on importers to book vessels to guarantee delivery. This will likely bring support to the market, and the current prices seen pre-Christmas should definitely encourage some farmers who have not yet ordered their nitrogen to at least take 50% of their requirement. As demand increases, a rebound is expected, and January looks to be a busy month.

AMMONIUM NITRATE

Ammonium Nitrate remains stable but there is currently little demand. That said, it has not followed the usual trend of correcting with Urea prices in the UK. Ammonium Nitrate looks firm for the New Year with traders showing interest to take positions for quarter 1 demand.

PHOSPHATES

Phosphates globally have seen a correction over the last week and the market is even more inactive than nitrogen. Overall, we expect the next days to be rather quiet due to the Christmas break, with demand picking up again in January. 

POTASH

Similar to last week, the potash market continues to remain quiet as the global economic crisis continues to slow down demand. Activity is low, however, it is certain to pick up in the New Year as buyers will have to stock up before spring.

SULPHUR

Globally, the sulphur market is quiet. However, in the UK we have seen demand picking up for Urea-based sulphur grades with the price of nitrogen correcting downwards. January will see sulphur demand increase once again. 

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