Malaysian MOP imports recover in May

Malaysian MOP imports in May helped to bring January-May deliveries back to levels seen in 2019, after a slow start to the year.

January-May imports totalled 661,000t, in line with the same period of 2019 and up by 10pc on January-May 2018. Canadian deliveries of MOP were up by 40pc year on the year, at 312,000t, while deliveries from Russia reached 112,000t, down by 23pc. Deliveries from Belarus and Lithuania, both made up of tonnages from Belarusian producer Belaruskali, dropped by 63pc and 31pc, respectively, to a combined 99,000t. Jordanian deliveries were up by 60pc, at just under 89,000t, while German supplies hit 24,000t, up by 9pc.

Malaysia's imports of MOP in 2019 hit a 10-year low as weak crude palm oil (CPO) prices, heavy carryover stocks and falling potash prices sapped demand.

Stocks in southeast Asia have to be rebuilt after low imports in 2019 and at least the first quarter of 2020, so Argus expects demand to be slightly higher this year. CPO futures prices on the Bursa Malaysia have encouraged plantation owners to buy MOP, supporting demand in recent months.

Front-month CPO futures were at 2,747 ringgits/t ($644/t) today, up from a recent low of 2,020 ringgits/t cfr on 12 May. The highest price so far this year was 3,128 ringgit/t on 10 January.

By Ewan Thomson