New Year a disappointment for urea producers, so far

摘要

Producers of urea that had been hoping for better times in 2016 are so far faced with significant price deterioration rather than prospects for price improvement. Focus in the early days of January was largely on the US market where prices dived close to $200/st FOB at New Orleans after closing 2015 almost $20/st higher. The barge market did display volatility as had been excepted, and the drop in values was largely attributed to the substantial tonnage due into the Mississippi River over the coming 30 days, to be priced via formulae. A short-term rebound back into the mid-to-upper $210s/st FOB can therefore not be excluded as importers and traders re-evaluate positions.