Maritime & Shipping, Dry Freight
June 05, 2025
Platts updates 25 fertilizer freight assessment specifications June 5
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, has updated the specifications of 25 weekly dry and liquid bulk fertilizer freight assessments, effective June 5, 2025.
The amendments 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, along with extensive market feedback.
The changes 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 as per specifications wherever necessary.
The timestamps for 13 assessments have also changed. Previously, all 25 were assessed at 4.30 pm London time. From June 5, three have moved to 4.30 pm Sao Paulo time, while 10 have moved to 4.30 pm Penang time, following the relevant holiday calendars. These 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 has also launched 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.
Previously, the below dry bulk fertilizer freight assessments appeared 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 freight name and specifications | New name and specifications | Change summary | Old timestamp | New timestamp | Currently appears in | From June 5, appears in: |
| FUFWQ04 | Phosphate Freight US Gulf-Brazil 35-40 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight US Gulf-Brazil 40 kt | Clarifies cargo size, timestamp change | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm Sao Paulo | Phosphate report, World Fertilizer Review | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FUFWN04 | Potash Freight Vancouver-Brazil 40-50 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Vancouver-Brazil 60 kt | Updates cargo size, timestamp change | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm Sao Paulo | Potash report | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FUBAP04 | Sulphur Vancouver-China 50-60 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Vancouver-China 50 kt | Clarifies cargo size, timestamp change | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm Sao Paulo | Sulfur report | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FUBAH04 | Ammonium Sulphate China-Brazil 50-70 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight China-Brazil 60 kt | Clarifies cargo size, timestamp change | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm Penang | Nitrogen report | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FUFWW04 | Phosphate Freight China River-India (EC-WC) 40-50 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight China River-East Coast India 45 kt | Clarifies cargo size, timestamp change | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm Penang | Phosphate report | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FUFWX04 | Phosphate Freight South China-India (EC-WC) 40-50 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight South China-East Coast India 45 kt | Clarifies cargo size, timestamp change | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm Penang | Phosphate report | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FUFWO04 | Potash Freight Vancouver-Southeast Asia 15-30 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Vancouver-Gresik 60 kt | Updates cargo size, timestamp change | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm Penang | Potash report | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FUBAN04 | Sulphur Middle East-China (South) 50 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-South China 50 kt | Timestamp change | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm Penang | Sulfur report | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FUBAM04 | Sulfur Middle East-China (River/South) 35 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-China River 35 kt | Timestamp change | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm Penang | Sulfur report | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FUBAL04 | Sulphur Middle East-EC India 30-40 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-East Coast India 35 kt | Clarifies cargo size, timestamp change | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm Penang | Sulfur report, World Fertilizer Review | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FACTY04 | Urea Freight China-East Coast India 40-50 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight China East-East Coast India 45 kt | Clarifies cargo size, timestamp change | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm Penang | Nitrogen report, World Fertilizer Review | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FUFWF04 | Urea Freight Middle East-Thailand bulk 25-30 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-Thailand 30 kt | Clarifies cargo size, timestamp change | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm Penang | Nitrogen report | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FUFWE04 | Urea Freight Middle East-West Coast India 40 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-West Coast India 45 kt | Updates cargo size, timestamp change | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm Penang | Nitrogen report, World Fertilizer Review | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FUFWK04 | Potash Freight Baltic-Southeast Asia 15-30 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Baltic-SE Asia 35 kt | Updates cargo size | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm London | Potash report | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FUBAO04 | Sulphur Jubail-Morocco 50 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-Morocco 50 kt | - | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm London | Sulfur report | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| SMEAA04 | Sulphur Middle East-Southeast Africa 35 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-Southeast Africa 50 kt | Updates cargo size | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm London | Sulfur report | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FUFWB04 | Urea Freight Baltic-Brazil 25-30 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Baltic-Brazil 30 kt | Clarifies cargo size | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm London | Nitrogen report | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FACTZ04 | Urea Freight Black Sea-Brazil 25-30 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Black Sea-Brazil 30 kt | Clarifies cargo size | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm London | Nitrogen report, World Fertilizer Review | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FUFWH04 | Urea Freight Middle East-Brazil 40 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-Brazil 40 kt | - | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm London | Nitrogen report | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
| FUFWG04 | Urea Freight Middle East-NOLA 40-45 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Middle East-NOLA 45 kt | - | 4:30pm London | 4.30 pm London | Nitrogen report | Phosphate, sulfur, potash and nitrogen reports |
The Ammonium Nitrate Baltic-Brazil 25 kt 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 25 kt | Fertilizer Dry Bulk Freight Baltic-Brazil 25 kt. Basis ammonium nitrate. | - | 4.30 pm London | 4.30 pm 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 | Name | Change | Change summary |
| FUBAC04 | UAN Klaipeda-Rouen 15 kt | UAN freight Klaipeda-Rouen 15 kt | - |
| FUFWY04 | UAN Novo-EC USA 35 kt | UAN freight Novorossiysk-EC USA 35 kt | Clarifies basis port |
| FUBAE04 | UAN Novo-Rouen 30 kt | UAN freight Novorossiysk-Rouen 35 kt | Updates cargo size |
| FUBAB04 | UAN St Petersburg-Rouen 35 kt | UAN freight St Petersburg-Rouen 35 kt | - |
Platts earlier announced the discontinuation of 18 fertilizer freight assessments which were duplicates or considered irrelevant due to trade flow changes, launched in a subscriber note available here(opens in a new tab).
Platts originally proposed the amendment of 25 fertilizer freight assessments on April 23 in a subscriber note available here(opens in a new tab).
Platts then announced its decision to amend 25 fertilizer freight assessments on May 8 in a subscriber note available here(opens in a new tab).
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