Adds vessel name
Saudi Arabian fertilizer producer Sabic has completed the loading of 25,000t of granular urea at the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea, marking the first bulk loading of urea on the west coast as shipments out of the Mideast Gulf are still heavily constricted.
There was no comment on pricing, but the Courtesy K is understood to be destined for Bangladesh under Sabic's long-term government-to-government contract. Another granular urea cargo is scheduled to load for Bangladesh from Yanbu later this month.
The urea was trucked from the production hub of Jubail to Yanbu for loading, meaning that around 1,250 truckloads of 20t each would have had to be delivered to the port for this cargo alone.
The move follows the same strategy carried out by fellow Saudi fertilizer producer Maaden, which trucked phosphates from its Ral Al-Khair site to Yanbu for export in March in the wake of the war in the Middle East, which has resulted in the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz since the end of February. Sabic has been producing urea at Jubail and loading vessels since the war began, with Argus tracking at least 15 vessels loaded with Saudi urea in the Gulf yet to navigate the strait.
