Maritime & Shipping, Fertilizers, Chemicals, Dry Freight
May 08, 2025
Platts to update 25 fertilizer freight assessments, effective June 5
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, will update the specifications of 25 weekly dry and liquid bulk fertilizer freight assessments, effective June 5, 2025.
The amendments will refine and evolve specifications such as quantity, as well as loading and discharge ports for the assessments, to better reflect changes in trade flows, as evidenced by Platts trade flow software, S&P Global Commodities at Sea and extensive market feedback.
The changes will capture a broader array of nutrients under a single assessment. While some of the routes are more liquid for specific products, going forward, Platts will consider pricing input relevant to the assessment and related to other fertilizer products normalized according to specifications wherever necessary.
The timestamps for 13 assessments will also change. Currently, all 25 are assessed at 4:30 pm London time. From June 5, three will move to 4:30 pm Sao Paulo time, while 10 will move to 4:30 pm Penang time, following the relevant holiday calendars. These proposed changes are intended to better capture the concentration of trading activity in regional fertilizer markets.
The changes include narrowing the specifications of the assessments, including identifying basis ports for each assessment, although other ports within the region may be normalized to this point where necessary.
Platts will also launch central single-point assessments for each of the freight routes, with standardized high and low ranges $1/mt above (high) and below (low) the central assessment.
Currently, the below dry bulk fertilizer freight assessments appear only in nutrient-specific reports. From June 5, they will appear in all -- Nitrogen, Phosphate, Potash and Sulfur reports. This change will provide a comprehensive array of freight information to the market. All assessments will continue to appear on Platts Connect.
| Symbol | Existing assessment name and specifications | Updated name and specifications | Change summary | Old timestamp | New timestamp | Currently appears in |
| FUFWQ04 | Phosphate Freight US Gulf-Brazil 35-40kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight US Gulf-Brazil 40kt | Clarifies cargo size, timestamp change | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm Sao Paulo | Phosphate report, World Fertilizer Review |
| FUFWN04 | Potash Freight Vancouver-Brazil 40-50kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Vancouver-Brazil 60kt | Updates cargo size, timestamp change | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm Sao Paulo | Potash report |
| FUBAP04 | Sulphur Vancouver-China 50-60kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Vancouver-China 50kt | Clarifies cargo size, timestamp change | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm Sao Paulo | Sulfur report |
| FUBAH04 | Ammonium Sulphate China-Brazil 50-70kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight China-Brazil 60kt | Clarifies cargo size, timestamp change | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm Penang | Nitrogen report |
| FUFWW04 | Phosphate Freight China River-India (EC-WC) 40-50kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight China River-East Coast India 45kt | Clarifies cargo size, timestamp change | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm Penang | Phosphate report |
| FUFWX04 | Phosphate Freight South China-India (EC-WC) 40-50kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight South China-East Coast India 45kt | Clarifies cargo size, timestamp change | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm Penang | Phosphate report |
| FUFWO04 | Potash Freight Vancouver-Southeast Asia 15-30kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Vancouver-Gresik 60kt | Updates cargo size, timestamp change | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm Penang | Potash report |
| FUBAN04 | Sulphur Middle East-China (South) 50kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-South China 50kt | Timestamp change | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm Penang | Sulfur report |
| FUBAM04 | Sulfur Middle East-China (River/South) 35kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-China River 35kt | Timestamp change | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm Penang | Sulfur report |
| FUBAL04 | Sulphur Middle East-EC India 30-40kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-East Coast India 35kt | Clarifies cargo size, timestamp change | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm Penang | Sulfur report, World Fertilizer Review |
| FACTY04 | Urea Freight China-East Coast India 40-50kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight China East-East Coast India 45kt | Clarifies cargo size, timestamp change | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm Penang | Nitrogen report, World Fertilizer Review |
| FUFWF04 | Urea Freight Middle East-Thailand bulk 25-30kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-Thailand 30kt | Clarifies cargo size, timestamp change | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm Penang | Nitrogen report |
| FUFWE04 | Urea Freight Middle East-West Coast India 40kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-West Coast India 45kt | Updates cargo size, timestamp change | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm Penang | Nitrogen report, World Fertilizer Review |
| FUFWK04 | Potash Freight Baltic-Southeast Asia 15-30kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Baltic-SE Asia 35kt | Updates cargo size | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm London | Potash report |
| FUBAO04 | Sulphur Jubail-Morocco 50kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-Morocco 50kt | - | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm London | Sulfur report |
| SMEAA04 | Sulphur Middle East-Southeast Africa 35kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-Southeast Africa 50kt | Updates cargo size | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm London | Sulfur report |
| FUFWB04 | Urea Freight Baltic-Brazil 25-30kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Baltic-Brazil 30kt | Clarifies cargo size | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm London | Nitrogen report |
| FACTZ04 | Urea Freight Black Sea-Brazil 25-30kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Black Sea-Brazil 30kt | Clarifies cargo size | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm London | Nitrogen report, World Fertilizer Review |
| FUFWH04 | Urea Freight Middle East-Brazil 40kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-Brazil 40kt | - | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm London | Nitrogen report |
| FUFWG04 | Urea Freight Middle East-NOLA 40-45kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-NOLA 45kt | - | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm London | Nitrogen report |
The Ammonium Nitrate Baltic-Brazil 25kt assessment will continue to be printed in the Nitrogen Report.
| Symbol | Existing name | Updated name | Change summary | Current timestamp | New timestamp | Appears in |
| FUBAF04 | Ammonium Nitrate Baltic-Brazil 25kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Baltic-Brazil 25kt. Basis ammonium nitrate. | - | 4:30pm London | 4:30pm London | Nitrogen Report |
The following liquid bulk fertilizer assessments will continue to be assessed at 4:30 pm London time and appear in the Nitrogen Report with updated specifications.
| Symbol | Existing name | Updated name | Change summary | Appears in |
| FUBAC04 | UAN Klaipeda-Rouen 15kt | UAN freight Klaipeda-Rouen 15kt | - | Nitrogen Report |
| FUFWY04 | UAN Novo-EC USA 35kt | UAN freight Novorossiysk-EC USA 35kt | Clarifies basis port | Nitrogen Report |
| FUBAE04 | UAN Novo-Rouen 30kt | UAN freight Novorossiysk-Rouen 35kt | Updates cargo size | Nitrogen Report |
| FUBAB04 | UAN St Petersburg-Rouen 35kt | UAN freight St Petersburg-Rouen 35kt | - | Nitrogen Report |
Platts previously announced the discontinuation of 18 fertilizer freight assessments, which were duplicates or considered irrelevant due to trade flow changes.
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