Market Update July 2024
Winter has definitely arrived! We hope this has brought much-needed rain to your region. For those who received early rains and established crops before the temperature dropped, this season is shaping up to be positive, which is the case for most of Victoria. However, those with a later break, particularly in South Australia, have had a slower start so are later and will rely on a prolonged season. Wherever you’re farming, we hope you’ve had a successful start.
In terms of ag chem supply, things are surprisingly stable and predictable – a welcome change! Supply from China and other countries is reliable, with the only volatility stemming from the Red Sea crisis, which is causing congestion in Singapore and other transit ports. This is pushing up sea freight prices, which to put this in perspective is increasing the cost price of IBCs by nearly 5c/L each month.
On a positive note, prices for most post-emergents and fungicides have fallen from 2023 levels, benefiting broadacre growers across the country. If you haven’t yet considered Crop Smart for your fungicides, I encourage you to “give us a go” this season as there are significant savings to be had with big price drops from last season.
Will anything run short in the next 3 months? At this stage, South Australia is late, so there’s less demand from that state for post-emergents and fungicides on the wholesale market. As a result, if you’re in Victoria or NSW, you have clear air for the rest of this month until SA demand increases. Straight Tebuconazole is tight and whilst today everything else is available we do know all companies had to commit to fungicides during the dry spell in April so most are carrying only conservative volumes. If you’re in South Australia, it’s wise to be extra organized, especially if your season takes off. Your resellers will be sourcing product from wholesalers who will have already supplied Victoria and NSW, whose season is running earlier than yours. If there’s strong disease pressure expect supply to tighten quickly. Add to this canola oil adjuvants like our Smart Accel product. Demand for this is at an all-time high and has caught the market off guard. It appears the market underestimated its increased use over summer and knockdown with Nufarm Terrador, so supply will be tight for the next 3 months. Please order your Smart Accel and equivalent requirements ahead of time.
Liquid nutrients are also a hot topic this time of year. We’ve added a nutrition agronomist, Ryan Sheridan, to our team this season. He’s conducting on-farm visits, soil tests, and tissue tests to tailor nutrition strategies for growers in our network. If you’re interested in a personalised program, please get in touch and we’ll introduce you to Ryan.
On the fertiliser front International Urea markets were focused on the recent tender for India. The latest tender required shipment before August 27th struggled to attract interest. The offers were set at USD365 CFR per metric ton for East Coast and USD350.50 CFR for the West Coast. This lack of engagement is partly due to India’s current excess urea inventory, which reportedly exceeds 11 million metric tonnes, coupled with competing tenders from Pakistan and Ethiopia.
Other key markets are also showing low activity. Brazil and Southeast Asia remain inactive and low corn prices in North America are all reducing demand. With Australia done for new purchases for the Winter crop markets, India taking less tonnes than expected, the declining corn price & traditional low demand period, wewould expect to see FOB’s soften.
Urea prices should remain stable domestically with most purchases already made combined with limited supply (and limited demand) in the southern zone.
Thank you for your continued support. We hope the next few months bring plenty of rain and crop growth. We look forward to catching up with you in person at the upcoming field days. If there’s anything we can do to assist with your in-crop spraying, please don’t hesitate to contact our team.
