Granular urea

The market has remained stable this week as further stocks of urea have become available for export, capping further price rises.

AOA, an Algerian producer, which has been in shutdown since mid-February, last week announced a tender to sell 25,000t of urea, indicating that production has started again.

The market will also watch with interest to see what further stocks will become available out of China, after they featured heavily in the latest Indian tender.

Prices sold into the tender reflected the Chinese domestic market, so any significant dip in global markets would likely see stocks diverted back into the domestic market, squeezing availability once again.

Ammonium nitrate

CF has remained out of the market, adopting a wait-and-see approach to other nitrogen markets, especially the urea market, to avoid posting uncompetitive prices.

Other AN prices (Yara UK) saw a £20/t increase following European levels, which have seen a €40/t increase since last month.