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The Mid-Autumn Festival has passed; what’s the taste of the \"diammonium phosphate\" mooncake? Author/Source: China Fertilizer Network Date: 2019-09-25 Clicks: 11. With the Mid-Autumn Festival behind us, sales of autumn fertilizers are in full swing. As the star product in the autumn fertilizer market, diammonium phosphate is undoubtedly the most attractive \"mooncake\" among all the products available in these gift sets. However, the performance of the diammonium phosphate market this year is very different from that of last year. The continuous decline in prices is a well-known phenomenon; after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the estimated arrival price of 64% diammonium phosphate in North China remained stable at 2450–2500 yuan per ton, while the estimated arrival price of 57% diammonium phosphate stayed steady at 2100–2200 yuan per ton. Most large distributors have begun shipping their products, and with the approaching autumn settlement period, diammonium nitrate finally stopped its downward trend during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Hard demands have temporarily slowed down the decline in domestic prices. The reason for the continuous decline in the price of diammonium phosphate this year is the large amount of inventory left over from the spring. As far as the author knows, some traders in the Northeast region have a significant amount of diammonium phosphate in their inventory. Additionally, there is very little demand for diammonium phosphate in the domestic fertilizer market during the summer. Lastly, as has been mentioned several times this year, the export prices are too low. Currently, there are still many negative factors in the diammonium phosphate market, but the domestic demand for fertilizers during the autumn season has managed to temporarily halt the decline in diammonium phosphate prices. Turning misfortune into fortune: Some distributors say that due to the lower prices of diammonium nitrate this year, sales volumes have increased by nearly 50% compared to previous years, and manufacturers have also shipped more products than in earlier years. The strong demand in the autumn market halted the decline in diammonium prices, but for a real rebound, subsequent winter storage demand as well as other positive developments are needed. Supply remains stable; recently, the operation of diammonium fertilizers has been relatively steady, with a slight decline in operations in some areas. At present, most enterprises are still adhering to the production restriction policies set out at the “6+2” meeting, but some still face significant inventory pressures. This is in order to prevent further price drops caused by an oversupply in the North China market. A small number of companies have already entered the winter storage phase, beginning to gather goods at ports such as Bayuquan. The pickup price at 64% of the diammonium phosphate ports has increased by 2,500 yuan, while at 57% of these ports it has risen by 2,100–2,150 yuan; in addition, a guaranteed payment policy is in place, with interest rates ranging from 6 to 8 percent. Although revenue and sales performance were average, it did help alleviate the supply pressure in the North China market to some extent. Coupled with the success of some companies in export markets and the gradual balance between supply and demand, prices of diammonium phosphate finally stabilized during the Mid-Autumn Festival. As the settlement date approaches, the factory is holding its prices high. This year, the overall environment in the fertilizer market is poor, with continuous negative news; the price of diammonium phosphate has dropped sharply. Additionally, traders at all levels have earned less profit from selling diammonium phosphate in previous years, which has led to difficulties in selling it earlier on. To counter the tendency of downstream distributors to buy at rising prices rather than falling ones and to boost sales, most companies adopt a policy of collecting payments in advance as a guarantee, with such guarantees usually valid until the end of September or early October. Now that the settlement period is approaching and major first-tier traders have begun to ship their goods, companies are keen to maintain high prices in order to meet the upcoming settlements. In summary, the downward trend of diammonium nitrate finally saw some improvement during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Although market prices in autumn were lower than expected, this still helped boost sales. However, due to numerous negative factors, the overall environment in the fertilizer market remains unfavorable, making it difficult for diammonium nitrate prices to rise. (Rong Guangwen)