Italy's fertilizer market has yet to feel a major impact from coronavirus, market participants said, despite measures to contain the outbreak in the country having been significantly extended.
Prime minister Giuseppe Conte on 9 March advised people nationwide to stay at home and said that the whole of Italy would become a "protected zone".
The effects are wide-ranging, including all professional sporting events being cancelled and education institutions being closed.
But the domestic fertilizer market has yet to be struck by any great impact, and business-related deliveries appear to have so far been relatively unaffected by the situation. The problem relates to people, not to trucks or goods, one importer and distributor said, although it is said that some drivers are uncomfortable making journeys to key port Ravenna.
There is less consensus regarding imports, compared with views on the domestic scenario. Participants of the Italian market have no concerns at present that cargoes will stop arriving at Italian ports, but one importer suggested a minor firming of prices resulting from a tightness of supply.
Meanwhile, an international firm reports that traders are not directing unsold urea vessels to Italy from Egypt, because of uncertainties stemming from the virus, and are instead offering them to Turkey.
Regardless, further developments are certain in the days and weeks to come, and coronavirus could yet have a major impact on how the Italian fertilizer and agriculture market progresses.
For now, fertilizer demand for applications is beginning to ramp up in the north of Italy, after a much-needed spell of rainfall recently arrived. In the south, application demand is in full swing.
Prices for granular urea have firmed, in response to developments in the wider international market, indicated at €270-278/t fca bags this week. Further increases are likely, and the market is awaiting fresh terms from domestic producer Yara Italia to set the tone.
But CAN does not have urea's momentum, despite being another straight-nitrogen product. Turkish material remains available at around €175/t fca bags in Italy, holding down prices for product from other sources. Moreover, nitrates pricing across Europe is broadly stagnant.
Meanwhile, European DAP prices have been generally firm since around the turn of the year, but rises in Italy have been limited by increased competition among suppliers in the Mediterranean region. DAP prices for Italy were assessed at €310-320/t fca bags on 6 March, unchanged from mid/late February.
Italy produced averages of 470,000 t/yr of urea and 284,000 t/yr of CAN in 2009-18, IFA data show.
Imports averaged 850,000 t/yr of urea, 132,000 t/yr of CAN, 242,000 t/yr of DAP, and 336,000 t/yr of MOP during the 10-year period, the data show.
