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Farmer Fertilizer Focus - UAN

By: Josh Linville, Vice President- Fertilizer

February '23 UAN (28% / 32%)
 
Josh Linville
Vice President- Fertilizer
major global uan export location price graph
As mentioned in other products, the price graphs should be viewed by their price direction, not their absolute price.  The first graph looks at the Black Sea and NOLA values on a short ton basis.  The second looks at the same points except in metric ton.  Both are in USD.
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What everyone wants to know first, what do we think will happen going forward
It wasn't too long after hitting send on the January edition that I had regrets on the UAN price call.  Expected January demand no longer looked like it was coming.  The European situation continued to improve.  It looked less likely that urea was going to rebound...which mean UAN had downward work to do.
Today, short term UAN looks like it has more price pressure against it as urea continues to hold lower.  However, all the spring values that are being quoted by the manufacturers are pointing to their expectation that prices should jump once spring demand steps forward.  Likely more bearishness in coming weeks but a possible recovery for first half spring.
More and more of the market is becoming convinced that high priced urea is in the past.  While I'm not completely convinced, it is hard to argue.  Lot of the trend is that way.  Lot of the factors are that way.  Not only that but we keep hearing of a lot of UAN demand switching which could further crater the price.
There are a lot of things at play today that we normally do not have to worry about and that makes it incredibly hard to call but if I have to make a call, UAN stays under pressure short term.
should you buy your Spring '23 uan needs today?
Preplant, yes if it works.  Sidedress, thinking wait and see could pay off.
While I do think short term prices could go down further, I do not think it will be a massive drop.  Because of that, I'm still more concerned with making sure the product is in place and available to be applied than I am of trying to hit the absolute bottom of the market.  Due to this, I'm still leaning in on the idea of locking up preplant needs (while selling grain against it).
Sidedress is a different beast.  Not to say there are not things that concern me but I'm not as concerned and today do not see a lot of reasons to think the price will skyrocket.  That said, if you can lock up the UAN and sell the grain at a solid profit, there is nothing wrong with that.
Regardless of the approach, be talking to your retailer.  With the markets like they are, they no more wan to lock in price than you do.  The entire supply chain is struggling thru this.  Again, my biggest fear is not prices falling after we buy it.  My biggest fear is not locking it in and not having the product around to buy when we need it.
general global uan information
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What has happened in the last 30 days?
European natural gas KEEPS FALLING
Last month, we were over the moon to see the Dutch TTF natural gas value falling into the $20MMbtu range.  After topping out at $100 last August, it seemed like we would never see anything close to normal again.  Hitting the $20's seemed like that was all the lower it could go.
Yesterday from when I am writing this, that same product closed sub $18!  This is great for European folks who are highly dependent on natural gas to heat their homes and cook their meals.  It is also great for UAN values as it raises the chance that more production restarts will occur!
While we have not seen a wave of restarts, the operating rate in western/central Europe has certainly improved.  At its worst, the rate had dropped to an estimated 20 - 30% of normal.  Today, that has climbed to 60 - 65% of normal.  
As natural gas values continue to fall, it raises the chance that more plant will restart.  If that happens, it will have a substantial effect on global UAN markets.  Europe accounts for approximately 1 out of every 5 tons of UAN produced around the world  
The "switch from UAN to urea" story continues to gain steam
In the last 30 days, UAN values have finally broken.  Manufacturers did all they could to hold onto higher prices in hopes that demand would come/urea would improve/etc.  Without any of those happening, the break finally occurred.  However, is it enough?
As of this writing, UAN remains a much higher than "normal" premium to NOLA urea.  
Typically, the amount of demand that can/would switch from UAN to urea is relatively small.  However, this year seems different.  In the past, the premium spread has been just as we entered the spring season when it is too late to make any changes.  But look at the graph below.  That premium started much higher and much earlier than normal.
The premium was a lot higher than where we are today.  At its height, UAN was north of 30 cents over urea on a price per pound of actual N.  I believe the average application rate of N on an acre of U.S. corn is around 155.  If we just go with those raw numbers (does not include transportation, application costs, etc.), switching at that time equates to roughly $45 - $50/acre.  Know anyone that would consider changing things for that kind of savings?!
Today, the difference is around 15 cents.  That is still around $25/acre and will certainly get attention.  
While still too early to know what the percentage change will be, know that the market is watching it much closer now than in the past.  If UAN loses sizeable demand to urea, what do you think that does to UAN prices?
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Where are current values in relation to the past
NOLA/New Orleans, Louisiana 
Number 1 importer (2.5mmt in 2021) AND number 5 exporter (563kmt in 2021)
Top 5 import origins
  1. Russia (42%)
  2. Trinidad/Tobago (33%)
  3. Canada (17%)
  4. Algeria (4%)
  5. Netherlands (2%)

Top 5 export destinations

  1. France (31%)
  2. Belgium (18%)
  3. Argentina (14%)
  4. Germany (6%)
  5. Poland (5%)

Price Comparisons

  • Vs 30 days ago - -27% or approximately $120 lower
  • Vs 90 days ago - -40% or approximately $220 lower
  • Vs 6 months ago - -17% or approximately $70 lower
  • Vs 1 year ago - -41% or approximately $230 lower

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U.S. Midwest Average

  • Vs 30 days ago - -18% or approximately $95 lower
  • Vs 90 days ago - -26% or approximately $154 lower
  • Vs 6 months ago - -3% or approximately $11 lower
  • Vs 1 year ago - -53% or approximately $322 lower

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Black Sea (Russia)

Number 1 exporter (2.2mmt in 2021)

Top 5 export destinations

  1. United States (49%)
  2. Australia (16%)
  3. Argentina (6%)
  4. France (5%)
  5. Canada (4%)

Price comparisons

  • Vs 30 days ago - -7% or approximately $30 lower
  • Vs 90 days ago - -25% or approximately $134 lower
  • Vs 6 months ago - -12% or approximately $55 lower
  • Vs 1 year ago - -34% or approximately $211 lower

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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
  • Natural gas values in Europe start to rally – Europe has had the perfect scenario following Russia's actions and resulting extremely high price.  Residential demand has been down as folks try to cut back to save money.  Industrial demand has fallen in the face of high cost of production.  A significantly warmer winter than forecasted has greatly lowered overall demand.  You could not have forecasted this situation if you tried.  That said, who is to say that everything doesn't turn around, causing prices to rally?
  • Spring is coming quickly – the market has been dragging its feet on purchases in anticipation of lower prices/due to lack of profitability.  That works...for a while.  The flip side problem is that eventually purchases have to be made.  The longer buyers wait, the more the demand grows.  The more it grows, the bigger the reaction when everyone breaks at the same time and rushes the market with demand.
  • Urea market starts to rally with demand (currently overdone on the low side) - this is not me saying that I think urea will rally.  It is simply something to watch.  There are some factors that support the idea that urea could move higher.  Much lower exports from China in 2022 total.  Surge in demand from UAN/NH3 switching.  Solid 2023 N demand.  Delayed buying eventually stepping forward.  However, if the urea market does start to move higher, you better believe manufacturers will be quick to respond.
Bearish Factors
  • European natural gas prices continue to fall/further N plant restarts - this one is pretty low hanging fruit.  If natural gas values continue to fall, N production plant restart announcements will eventually come.  When that happens, it brings a lot more UAN inventory back which will weigh on price ideas.
  • UAN switching to urea could be much bigger than expected – I know we talk a lot about this.  That is because of how important a factor I think it could be.  Not will be, but could be.  If we find that demand switching is much bigger, then it means supplies will be heavy going into summer.  Demand is already going to be skeptical on buying their 2024 needs this summer.  Having heavy inventories would not help matters.
  • "why would I buy in a bear market" – this is the N markets in a nutshell.  The market has been bearish so the longer we wait, the more the price could drop.  It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.
Where are the current uan/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 UAN
  • Spend 60 bushels to pay for 1 ton of UAN
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 NOLA UAN 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.
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Josh Linville’s focal points
  • European production/natural gas values - this is becoming an even bigger focus with values continuing to fall.  With west/central Europe accounting for 20% of global production, restarts would mean more supply/less demand = lower price ideas.  Then again, the opposite holds true.
  • Premium price to urea resulting in demand loss - I talk about it at length above.  If the price gap remains as high as it is, switching is a very real possibility.  If enough demand is lost, the market will need to correct to call it back.
  • North America logistics - I really wish this wasn't a point to discuss...but it is.  We are much better off than 30 - 60 days ago, but we are not out of the woods.

All data was sourced from StoneX unless otherwise noted.

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