What’s Happening in The Market – October 2020
Market Update October
Last month we wrote how it was great to see a soft finish and some spring rains, but I think we’d all agree the rain can disappear now so we can get on with harvest. Unfortunately, it appears mother nature has got other plans looking at the forecast for La Nina across the country. The positive is the soft finish has resulted in some late improvements in yield across most regions, so hopefully, harvest can happen with minimal interruptions, and you can record some strong yields.
The late spring rains mean that demand for summer spraying products is extremely high (and earlier than usual). Due to shipping services being cut back between Australia and China over the past few months, the cost of shipping has doubled since June. At the same time all importers are starting to see shipping delays of 2 weeks and more. These are forecast to increase and extend into February. These factors combined, have the potential to create shortages leading into Christmas, so once again, the key message here is BE ORGANISED (which seems to be the message of the last 12 months where demand is stretching supply). No one predicted for the country to be as wet as it has been in October, so be organized with Glyphosate, Triclopyr and Paraquat. In the last week, Triclopyr has sold out on the wholesale market until January, so December is a likely tight spot for some summer spraying products. As we’ve said for the last few months, Glyphosate and Paraquat are still at extremely good prices compared to previous years.
If you’ve had rain order summer sprays in November and don’t wait until December.
Do we need to order now for sowing after last year’s shortages?
The short answer is not yet. There is no need to panic as supply looks to be better than during the COVID rush last year. If you would like to secure volumes for peace of mind, feel free, but we’re happy for you to concentrate on harvest, and we will be in touch when you need to think about sowing product. Trifluralin, Prosulfocarb, and Glyphosate will be readily available from Crop Smart this sowing.
Fertiliser is a similar story to chemical at this stage with no major panic on supply. There is an increased worldwide demand, as well as here in Australia due to the significant yielding season post droughts in the Eastern States. We recommend getting more organized than previous years at this stage, so we will be in touch when pricing comes back from its current levels to lock in volumes. Our mail is there is still softening in AP’s and Urea at this stage from current levels.
Good luck for harvest and here’s hoping to further COVID restrictions being lifted that allows all of us in the country to be able to travel freely over state borders. A special mention to the Victorian’s reading this for withstanding the lockdown restrictions longer than the other states.
