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Farmer Fertilizer Focus - Ammonia

By: Josh Linville, Vice President- Fertilizer

NH3/Anhydrous Ammonia
 
Josh Linville
Director - Fertilizer
What everyone wants to know first, what do we think will happen going forward
File this under wildly unpopular opinion, but I continue to believe higher prices are in our immediate horizon.
Current NH3 inventory levels are much tighter than normal due to a solid spring lowering storage tanks and multiple production outages across North America and around the world.  Couple that with the fact that we are now on the doorstep of fall application season and it combines for a market where the fertilizer producer is in almost complete control of the pricing narrative.
To further back the strong market expectation is the price of NH3 vs upgrade (urea and UAN).  Even with the Midwest Wholesale Average at $1,100 (I believe it will jump this week as I've been hearing $1,200 - $1,300 in multiple locations), it STILL represents the cheapest N path forward for the farmer.
  • Inland NH3 @ $1,100 = $0.67/lb of actual N
  • NOLA (Gulf) Urea @ $735 = $0.80/lb of actual N
  • NOLA (Gulf) UAN @ $545 = $0.85/lb of actual N

So current NH3 values are currently 13 cents cheaper than urea and 18 cents cheaper than UAN...and that is without logistics of moving both urea and UAN to the inland locations.

Do not get me wrong, I am highly hesitant of using the term cheap anywhere near a value of $1,100.  It is anything but.  Unfortunately, we need to look at the basket of N products and realize that NH3 IS cheap when compared to them.

We could see this be a disappointing fall application with a lot of the market deciding to wait until spring to make their purchases/applications.  I would fully understand but also please know that the production side will also realize that is what is happening.  They may get more aggressive on their winter fill tonnages as they look to clear product to stop them from maxing their storage capacity.  However, they will then say that spring demand due to the lack of fall will overwhelm their system and that is why spring values need to be higher still.  I can say this in confidence because I have written that e-mail...

Anything is possible, especially with the year we have had.  However, today, it still looks as though NH3 prices will be supported for the foreseeable future.

What has happened in the last 30 days?
We finally saw inland NH3 values react to urea/UAN price gains...unfortunately
We could spend hours discussing the overall supply and demand balances across North America and around the world.  We could go into all the happenings that occurred last spring, throughout the summer and into our current market.  Each and every one of those would be valid talking points but they all pale in comparison to our current situation:
NH3 was too cheap vs the upgrades to remain where it was
It is that simple.  At one point prior to NH3 values rising, NH3 represented a 30 cent discount to either urea or UAN.  It was not a matter of if producers moved anhydrous values higher but when.
I was a believer that they would wait until the first couple weeks of application season before making their move.  I was wrong by a few which from their POV, I cannot blame them.  Why sell anything at that steep of a discount when you do not have to.  As we have said over and over, these producers are in the business of making money.  If you can maximize your profits, you maximize your profits.
As detailed above, NH3 is STILL a bigger discount than recent years when compared against UAN and Urea.  Take a look at the 4 charts below.  They compare the price of western cornbelt and eastern cornbelt NH3 against that of NOLA urea and NOLA UAN.  The values on the left mean very little.  It is more of where the current line resides vs previous years.  Anything positive means NH3 is a discount.  Anything negative means NH3 is a premium.  I know it isn't fun to hear, but the numbers do not lie...
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Where are current values in relation to the past
For NH3, we use Midwest Wholesale Average  as our base point as it is the easiest spot to track.
  • Vs 30 days ago - +43% or approximately $332 higher
  • Vs 90 days ago - +68% or approximately $446 higher
  • Vs 6 months ago - +75% or approximately $472 higher
  • Vs 1 year ago - +246% or approximately $782 higher (yes that is right, I checked 3 times...)
Bull/Bear Factors
Because no market is ever guaranteed to go higher/lower, we try to consider the factors that can sway values so that we are able to act when they occur rather than react.
Bullish Factors
  • Current inventories are tight due to lost production – the combination of lower than average ending inventories coming out of spring, Hurricane Ida stopping production in the Delta region for weeks as well as several inland production issues have all combined to lower than normal inventory levels going into the fall application period.  If we believe demand will be "normal" and supplies are down, that means higher prices.
  • Current NH3 values are STILL cheap vs upgrades – if you are sitting there reading this and thinking "hey moron, there is nothing cheap about this", you are 100% correct.  I cringe every time I write it.  However, NH3 is still the cheapest form of N.  If a farmer is going to plant corn in 2022, NH3 is the way to go.
  • Logistics might be a bigger issue than anticipated – the fertilizer market has done a stellar job of running truckers out of business in the pursuit of market share.  Also, farmers have gotten significantly bigger but storage facilities have remained relatively unchanged from a capacity POV.  Combine both of these with a high demand expected fall and we could be in for a logistical logjam that is hard to fathom.
Bearish Factors
  • If corn values falter, it will be hard to justify fall application – we have watched Dec '22 corn values break out of its $5 - $5.30 range and jump to over $5.50.  We like that trend but it is not  guaranteed to continue.  If we see it "fall out of bed", it will get harder to justify raising the crop next year and we could see demand drop.
  • Mother nature might have other plans – from my perspective, we are lined up for a big fall run.  However, even if NH3 was free, it wouldn't mean anything if we could not drag a toolbar thru the field (who am I kidding, some of you would hook up wench systems and mud it in!!!!!).  Mother nature ALWAYS has the last word.
  • The global nitrogen complex starts to drop – just as NH3 has had to rally due to the high cost of urea and UAN, it should do the same if they falter.  While not likely, it is 2021.  That means anything can happen.  If we start to see the price of upgrades drop, no doubt NH3 will want to stay aggressive as well.
Where are the current nh3/grain ratio values today?
We believe that only looking at the flat price of either grains or fertilizer can be misleading:
  • Only selling grain can hurt you if fertilizer prices rise substantially
  • Only buying fertilizer can hurt you if grain prices fall
We look at the ratio "value" to get a better indication of where we are or how many bushels of X does it take to pay for 1 ton of fertilizer.
Would you rather:
  • Spend 100 bushels to pay for 1 ton of NH3
  • Spend 200 bushels to pay for 1 ton of NH3
When we compare the current ratio value against recent years, we start to see if we are high or low.
YOUR VALUES WILL LOOK DIFFERENT
This graph looks at the Midwest Wholesale Average price vs the flat grain price. There are no logistics on either product. Your location will look different due to fertilizer logistical costs, grain basis, etc.
image 20971
image 20972
image 20973
image 20974image 20975
image 20976
 
Josh Linville’s Thoughts
  • Listen up because I'm only going to say this all the time on every product!!!!  Do not let emotion dictate your decision making.  I get it.  Current prices are stupidly high.  It seems like every time grain prices go up, every input (fertilizer included) goes right up with it.  Unfortunately, that is the market.  Regardless, make the decision that is best for your operation.  If these values do not work, make other plans.  If these values do work and you want to proceed, proceed.  It doesn't matter what industry you are in, emotion is the number 1 driver of bad decisions.  
  • BE CAREFUL OUT THERE.  It is bad enough operating machinery for dry and liquid fertilizer when you are exhausted.  NH3 takes it to a whole new level.  Especially for those of you who locked in your prices hundreds of dollars ago.  You will be thinking about running 24 hours a day until done.  I understand the pressure to get it applied but hear me out:  that cheaper price doesn't mean anything if you are dead.  Work hard but do not overdo it.
 
 
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