Phosphate price standoffs loom into the New Year

摘要

Phosphate producers increased their offers across the board for Q1 sales, but with key announcements such as the new export-tax regime from China and the India Q1 phosphoric acid price still awaited, this may be a difficult task. Chinese domestic DAP/MAP prices saw abrupt increases again this week on supply issues and high ammonia/sulphur costs leading into the domestic buying season. Domestic prices have now increased by roughly RMB 200-300/mt ($29-43/mt) in the last month. This compares to $10-15/mt increases for small volumes of DAP exports (to around $310/mt FOB) and no more than $5/mt increases in export MAP 11-44 prices.