Abu Dhabi's state-owned Adnoc set its February official sulphur selling price (OSP) for the Indian subcontinent at $174/t fob Ruwais, stable from its January OSP.
Adnoc's February OSP implies a delivered price of $190-191/t cfr India, with the freight cost for a 40,000-45,000t shipment to the east coast of India last assessed at $16-17/t on 30 January.
The announced OSP fob price rose by $105/t from $69/t fob Ruwais in February 2024.
Houston, 20 March (Argus) — The first towboat arrived at St Paul, Minnesota, today, marking the start of the 2025 navigation season on the upper Mississippi River, according to the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). The Neil N. Diehl passed through Lock 2 at Hastings, Minnesota, with nine barges, crossing into St Paul on 19 March. Tows reaching St Paul signify the unofficial start of the navigation season, as St Paul is the last port to open on the Mississippi River after winter ice thaws each year. This is considered an average start time for the navigation season, which typically opens the third week of March. The first tow to reach St Paul in 2024 arrived on 17 March. The Corps released the final Lake Pepin ice measurements of 17in on 12 March and was unable to take new measurements this week since the ice had melted significantly. Lake Pepin measurements help determine when the ice will be thin enough for barges to transit up river. By Meghan Yoyotte Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Sao Paulo, 20 March (Argus) — Brazil's central bank raised its target interest rate by 1 percentage point to 14.25pc amid accelerating inflation in a decelerating — but still heated — economy. The hike in the target rate, announced Wednesday, was the fifth in a row from a cyclical low of 10.5pc at the end of September last year, partly prompted by accelerating depreciation of the currency, the real, to the US dollar. Brazil's annualized inflation hit 5.06pc in February and is poised to keep accelerating. The bank's Focus economic report increased its inflation forecast to 5.7pc for the end-of-year 2025 from 5.5pc in January, when the bank's policy-making committee last met. Brazil's current government has an inflation ceiling goal of 3pc with tolerance of 1.5 percentage point above or below. The bank has recently changed the way it tracks the inflation goal. Instead of tracking inflation on a calendar year basis, it now monitors the goal on a rolling 12-month basis. The bank cited heated economic activity and a strong labor market as factors that have contributed to rising inflation. But the bank forecasts "modest GDP growth" for Brazil of almost 2pc in 2025, down from 3.4pc growth last year. Further tightening will also be linked to global economic uncertainty prompted by US president Donald Trump's aggressive trade and other policies and the monetary policies of the US Federal Reserve , according to the bank. Brazil's target interest rate is expected to keep rising at the bank's next meeting in 6-7 May, albeit to "a lesser extent" as the contributing factors are set to moderate, according to the committee. By Maria Frazatto Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Moscow, 20 March (Argus) — Контейнерный терминал Петролеспорт (ПЛП, Санкт-Петербург), входящий в холдинг Global Ports группы компаний Дело, в I квартале ввел в техническую эксплуатацию комплекс по перевалке навалочных грузов, сообщил на брифинге 19 марта генеральный директор Global Ports Альберт Лихолет. Ранее терминалы Global Ports принимали удобрения в спецконтейнерах, а новый комплекс позволит клиентам отгружать продукцию через ПЛП в более привычных хопперах. Грузы обрабатываются по контейнерной технологии: поступают на новый комплекс в минераловозах, перегружаются в балк-контейнеры и переваливаются на морской транспорт. Технология не предусматривает хранения балком на специализированных складских мощностях. За январь — февраль мы увеличили перевалку неконтейнерных грузов, в основном удобрений, на 13%. У крупных отраслевых производителей есть планы дальнейшего увеличения экспорта продукта, мы хотим быть частью этого процесса, — отметил Лихолет. Средняя судовая партия составляет около 30 тыс. т. Проектная мощность сейчас находится на уровне 2,4 млн т/год, а после завершения отладки и обкатки технологии совместно с РЖД ее планируется увеличить до 3,2 млн т/год. Комплекс на 92% оснащен оборудованием российского производства. Существенных рисков ввиду ожидаемого ввода в эксплуатацию новых терминалов по перевалке удобрений на Балтике мы для себя не видим. Считаем, что продукта будет достаточно всем. Мы работаем как с четырьмя крупнейшими экспортерами российских удобрений, так и с нишевыми локальными производителями, прорабатываем с ними возможности сотрудничества, — рассказал глава Global Ports. У холдинга два действующих долгосрочных контракта на перевалку удобрений: с Фосагро — до конца 2028 г., рассчитан на обработку 3 млн т/год продукции, а также с Еврохимом — до конца текущего года, предусматривает перевалку до 100 тыс. т в месяц, или около 1,2 млн т/год. Перевалкой сухих удобрений займется также терминал Port Favor в Усть-Луге (Ленинградская обл.), входящий в Портовый альянс, после ввода в эксплуатацию второй очереди этого проекта в конце 2025 г. Ожидается, что Port Favor выйдет на проектную мощность — 14 млн т/год — уже в 2026 г. ___________________ Больше ценовой информации и аналитических материалов о рынке транспортировки навалочных, генеральных грузов и контейнеров — в ежемесячном отчете Argus Логистика сухих грузов . Подписаться на аналитический дайджест Вы можете присылать комментарии по адресу или запросить дополнительную информацию feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Группа Argus Media . Все права защищены.
Houston, 19 March (Argus) — US fertilizer producer Mosaic is hopeful its output this year will exceed 2024 levels as it plans to enhance its capacity to meet anticipated demand growth. Mosaic expects phosphate and potash global demand to individually exceed 80mn metric tonnes (t) by the end of the decade, with phosphate's demand increase to be limited by a lack of adequate global supply. For phosphate, that would represent an uptick of 7mn t of demand while for potash that would represent an increase of nearly 9mn t. Mosaic referenced biofuel demand, feed use, and food use as the main pillars of agriculture commodity demand growth. There are a handful of factors expected to drive demand growth for phosphate and potash, such as population growth and an increase in the usage of the phosphate molecule in the industrial sector, the producer said in its analyst day presentation. Executive vice president Jenny Wang pointed out the downward trend in Chinese phosphate exports. The country in recent years exported roughly 10mn t, but that level has dropped to around 7mn-8mn t as it focuses on meeting domestic demand first. Mosaic expects annual Chinese phosphate exports to continue to drop by at least another 2mn t, while global phosphate demand growth from 2025-2030 is expected to increase by at least 2pc, which would further tighten global supply. The producer also did not shy away from detailing its loss of 700,000t of phosphate production last year from the plethora of hurricanes and winter storms that swept through the US Gulf. Vice president Karen Swager said if the 700,000t of phosphate had been included in the annual output tonnage, the overall 2024 production rate would have surpassed 2023, and therefore 2025's phosphate output should show an uptick. Mosaic last year produced roughly 6.3mn t of phosphate. It expects to produce between 7.2mn-7.6mn t this year and nearly 8.2mn t by 2026. "As we ramp our production up, we will lower our unit costs because a lot of our costs are fixed," Swager said. The producer has also been installing new technology at its Canadian mines that should lead to an 8pc increase in its 2025 potash output compared with 2024 levels, which were lowered by 250,000t because of electrical mine issues . Mosaic anticipates 2025 production to total between 8.9mn-9.1mn t and should near 9.2mn t by 2027. "Better operating efficiency will unlock value that enables us to grow high margin areas of the business, and invest less in the areas that aren't generating those type of returns," president Bruce Bodine said. By Taylor Zavala Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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