Those of you that have been in the malls lately may have noticed that there aren’t as many bargains as there used to be. Retailers seem to have figured out that people will shop after Christmas and have adjusted their pricing accordingly. Despite the orange tags screaming “marked down 60%”, the bargains are farther apart.
Similarly if you are shopping for nitrogen or phosphate you may have to look a little farther afield but the bargains are out there nevertheless.
According to AgProfessional’s University of Nebraska correspondent, US retail pricing for urea is running around $450/ton. When you translate that into Canadian bucks and metric tonnes you can likely do better north of the border. It has been a while since that has been true. That means that Agrium is more appreciative of its loyal western Canadian base. Actually it doesn’t mean anything of the sort – they’ll take as much as they can get wherever they can get it but right now western Canada looks pretty damn good.
The sleeper is likely anhydrous ammonia. You don’t have much flexibility, you can’t store it and you’re at the mercy of your dealer but you still might find a bargain. The Americans had a late corn harvest and didn’t get much ammonia in the ground which means that inventories are high. That doesn’t necessarily translate into better pricing in western Canada but it means your suppliers might be receptive to some pressure. Right now US retails for ammonia and urea are similar – that’s a big discount for ammonia, if you can find someone who wants to play the game.
Good luck with your yearend bargain hunt.
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