OCTOBER 2024

HOURS: MONDAY - FRIDAY 7 AM - 4 PM
I recall thinking that time had been flying by as I hit the 6-month mark but now, after being at PALS for a year, it feels like I've been here much longer. During my time in the agricultural industry, I've seen the hard work and persistence of the people who are in it; the dedication they have to their specialty and recognize the many people who contribute to this industry. I appreciate the warm welcome and continued support of this agricultural community. With that, I'll provide some market updates.

Volatile markets:
  • Lysine and threonine markets have been nothing short of exciting, especially in this past week. Import threonine is in short supply for the next couple of months. Ajinomoto also had scheduled plant maintenance which will keep the domestic threonine supply behind for the next month. Import lysine also has indications of a shortage but not to the extent of threonine. Word hit hard and fast over this past week and a half, and many loads were traded/sold while everyone scrambled to get their hands on product. Demand, short supply and extended lead times have caused the largest threonine prices we've seen since December 2022. Q1 volume discussions are being had much earlier than usual. Although a deal was reached to end the East Coast strike, the final negotiations will need to be agreed upon early in 2025.
  • The copper metal market is always volatile, but its high prices have made everyone feel the sting having impacted the copper sulfate pricing. An all-time high of $5.20/lb. in May gave little relief and copper sulfate pricing lowered much slower than the quick and frequent increases we saw on the way up. It took a quick decrease on October 9th, but the copper metal has once again spiked upward in the mid $4.50's. Early predictions seemed to have been too high as we've seen some adjustments to the forecast heading into 2025; however, it seems the current predictions are still slightly higher than where the market is right now.
  • BASF had an explosion and fire in their Germany plant on July 29th, causing them to claim force majeure and allocating products. Since then, the vitamin market pricing has over doubled in some instances. In late August, BASF announced on that this will cause a lengthy interruption, and they don’t expect production to resume before January. Additionally, it will take them some time to get back up to pre-incident levels of production. Product will still have to quarantine and wouldn’t be available until Spring. The good news is that when there’s money to be made, production will increase. We expect that other Chinese suppliers will pick up the shortfalls as they can ramp up production pretty quickly. Hopefully that uptick will soften the pricing to more normal levels when the product becomes available in late November.

Although it has come down from its high this year, domestic methionine hasn't seen the pricing pressure we thought that it would from import options. High tariffs and forced labor bans on methionine are causing manufacturers to export their products into countries other than the United States. Despite a rail car explosion outside the plant in Theodore, AL on August 10th, methionine pricing has remained steady, and supply is nearly available with the same lead-time while allocations are mostly lifted. Tryptophan has gradually taken decreases over the past year and there are currently no concerns with supply.

Oh, the signs of fall - final grass cuttings and garden pickings, falling leaves, football, cozying up to a bonfire, those cool, crisp mornings and evenings, and never knowing whether to use defrost or not. For many, while fall harvest continues and the ground is turned, stay safe and have a bountiful fall!

Chelsey
Pricing in graphs reflect our highest retail price. We carry multiple brands of amino acids. Full pallet, truckload, customer pickup and other factors may reduce your purchase price.
Best reads last month:


Deal made to end
East Coast strike
Schwan's/Yelloh rebranding failure closes remaining delivery hubs and trucking and lays off employees
New trends impacting Copper MMI. Higher than normal prices remain
Did you know?   Willmar Poultry started PALS in 1955 to reduce their costs and assist local turkey growers. Over time, the manufacturing similarities of poultry and hog equipment brought PALS into the hog business. So much in fact, that today PALS business is 65% hog related.  
 PALS sells primarily 3 things: animal health products, animal agriculture equipment, and building & repair services. 
Animal Health:
Feed ingredients: While we supply several smaller mills, we have found we are a good secondary supplier for other distributors, mills and farms.  

Disinfectants / Cleaners / Water line cleaners / Antibiotics / Water Solubles / Insecticides / Rodenticides / Litter Treatments

Equipment: 
Our largest volume is in the hog industry.  Followed by turkey & chicken.   We
sell some cattle and dairy equipment; mostly feed lines and fans.   
(We are actively trying to build this category) 

Service:   
Our in house teams work in all service areas. We work closely with several subcontractors
on installation and service work.    
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We run route trucks 5 days a week. We also utilize direct shipping. It can be one box, pallets, or full truckloads.

CHECK US OUT ONLINE AT WWW.PALSUSA.COM
2024/2025 Poultry Catalog
2024 Animal Health Catalog
2023/2024 Poultry Catalog
Open Monday - Friday 7am - 4pm