The urea market is still weak with the only sign of strength of late seen in Yuzhnyy. Prices there appear to be holding
because of a lack of supply with domestic demand pulling on tonnes.
Supply from North Africa was also reduced somewhat this week with one line at AOA going down and with congestion in Damietta, availability could be tightened into 1-half January but beyond that trades are ready to short at lower prices as
they see supply growing and the shorts in Europe now covered. Also a purchase from Middle East at $235 fob for
Europe was a sharp reminder that if the North African producers take the price too high, apart from some of the smaller
shipments, they will lose out to the Middle East. The Middle East tonnes could also look to move into Turkey offering a
further threat to the North African price.
Elsewhere the market is weak; Brazilian prices have slipped as have NOLA. Baltic prices are also under pressure as
Latin interest is thin and Chinese prices are competitive and taking business in Central America.
It was hoped that with Indian demand expected to slow down movement to the port in China would slow down but in a thin domestic market, producers are still looking to chase export business.