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PHOSPHATE

East Africa
There was import demand for up to 35,000t of DAP for October or November shipment, but importers were hesitant to commit to requirements amid recent price increases. Of the 35,000t, around 15,000t of demand were for Burundi, with the balance for Kenya and Tanzania. Tanzania and Burundi usually began their main season for phosphates demand in October, which lasts until January and February. Demand remained in Burundi and Tanzania, with price targets from the buy-side indicated around the $740-750/t cfr Mombasa/Dar Es Salaam range. One supplier denied offers at this level, indicating closer to $800/t cfr and above. Previous business had taken place around $705/t cfr. Ma’aden loaded a combination shipment of 10,000t of DAP for Tanzania and 15,000t of MAP for Mozambique. The DAP sale was reportedly concluded in the low $730s/t cfr.

Egypt
A small lot of Egyptian DAP was reportedly sold into Romania at $725/t fob equivalent, up from previous indications at $680/t fob. There were discussions for DAP cargoes for December loading. But there was limited to no availability for loading that month or the next. Price ideas continued to track those in Morocco.

Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s EABC finally issues annual fertilizer tender
The much-anticipated Ethiopian fertilizer tender had finally been issued by the Ethiopian Agricultural Businesses Corporation (EABC), which was seeking over 2 mn t of urea and NPS fertilizers for the 2022 cropping season. The tender, which closed on 25 October, was requesting the following products:
„.803,756t of granular urea
„.853,090t of NPS+B
„.268,604t of NPS
„.81,086t of NPS+B+Zn
„.7,260t of NPS+Zn
The volume tendered for was up from the previous year. The volume of urea being sought was up by 13pc whereas the total volume for the NPS fertilizers had increased by 11pc. Its requirement for NPS and NPS+Zn was down by 4pc and 19pc, respectively. But its requirement for NPS+B and NPS+B+Zn had risen by 17pc and 11pc, respectively. The tender was typically announced in early August, but market participants had speculated that it had been delayed this year because of the sharp fertilizer price increases experienced through most of this year. The delay meant that deliveries was likely to have begun towards the end of the year or early in 2022. The 2019 tender closed around a similar time on 21 October, and the first NPS cargo was shipped on 30 December 2019, according to line-up data.

Morocco
OCP raised its DAP offers for European markets to $760/t fob on 5 October, before lifting levels to $770/t fob. MAP to Brazil was offered at similar netbacks. A sale of a small lot of DAP was concluded into Spain at a higher level, reflecting the $780s/t fob, as reported at presstime. But the quantity was too small to be included in the assessment. A trading firm offered Moroccan DAP under a purchase tender in India, but the price bids had not been opened. The unconfirmed offer was expected to net back to around $660-670/t fob, Argus calculates, setting the low end of the DAP range.
OCP had reportedly increased its DAP export offers to $785-790/t fob for European markets, from levels at $770/t fob. At press time it emerged that OCP had offered MAP to Australia at the equivalent of around $775-800/t fob, depending on freight rates and port discharge. The producer sold 10,000-15,000t of MAP earlier to Brazil, loading later in the month, reflecting around $760-770/t fob Jorf.
OCP had reportedly sold 50,000t of MAP 10-50 at around $765/t fob to Australia. Freight was estimated at around $125/t for 3-port discharge. The producer had held its DAP offers into Europe at $790/t fob. But fca prices in northern markets had yet to reach replacement cost levels. Freight for smaller vessels of 10,000t were indicated at around $55/t from Jorf to northern Europe, according to freight sources.
OCP sold 100,000t of DAP to India at around $745/t fob equivalent, marking an increase of nearly $100/t on previous business in India. The cargoes were scheduled to load in November. The producer also sold 50,000t of MAP 10-50 to Australia at $840/t fob, up by $75/t on sales. OCP was well-placed to cater to demands in Asia-Pacific with export restrictions ongoing in China. OCP further sold 15,000-20,000t of MAP to Brazil at a netback of $770-780/t fob, loading in November. The producer indicated DAP levels at the equivalent of $800-810/t fob into southern Europe, but this could not be confirmed on the buy side by press time. OCP reportedly had no spot availability to the end of the year. But this could not be confirmed directly with OCP.

South Africa
Fire at Richards Bay port
A fire necessitated a total shutdown of the dry bulk terminal at Richards Bay port on South Africa’s east coast. State-owned operator Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) had declared force majeure on all operations at the terminal after a second fire damaged its conveyor system. Fertilizer producer Foskor was reportedly unable to import sulfur because of fire damage to its conveyor route. But this was not confirmed directly with the supplier. The blaze at the dry bulk terminal broke out on conveyor HO1 on 13 October at around 19:00 local time and spread to other routes. While the fire was contained by around 01:30 local time, severe damage had been caused, which was unavoidable given its “enormity”, Transnet said.
Richards Bay port operations resume after fire
South Africa’s state-owned operator Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) had made significant progress in restoring operations at the Richards Bay dry bulk terminal on the east coast after a fire damaged its conveyor system. Five of seven conveyor belts had been fully restored and were back in operation, TPT said. For the remaining conveyor belts, the port had deployed manual handling to ensure continuity of operations. TPT declared force majeure on all operations at the terminal after the fire on 13 October. As a result, imports by fertilizer producer Foskor were halted. But TPT would not confirm which specific conveyor belts had been repaired and referred Argus’ questions to the firms who used the conveyor belts themselves. Investigations were under way into the cause of the incident, as well as another fire at Durban’s grain export terminal, which broke. No injuries were reported and both ports remained operational. DAP production had averaged 274,000 t/month in the first three quarters of this year, down by nearly a fifth on 336,000t/month a year earlier.
Producer Foskor was still experiencing interruptions of the electricity supply to its Richards Bay MAP facility following a fire at a substation late the previous month. Reparation works were rescheduled.

Tunisia
There were reports of a small lot of Tunisian DAP trading for a Mediterranean market at close to $700/t fob. GCT was reportedly sold out of spot tonnage and had none to offer to third parties until the start of the next year. But the producer was consuming 1,100 t/d of ammonia, implying that phosphate production was running at full capacity. The producer was reportedly running DAP output at around 50,000t that month. Domestic market and Libyan commitments were likely to total 15,000-20,000t that month. Remaining product was earmarked for Italy, Turkey, and France.

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