Reading Time: 2 minutes Fertilizer firm Mosaic Co. is dialing back production at another of its potash mines in eastern Saskatchewan as its potash inventories rise. Minnesota-based Mosaic Co. said Thursday it will “temporarily curtail” potash production at its Esterhazy mine, bringing the company’s total production curtailments up to 600,000 tonnes. The added curtailment, the company said, is based […] Read more
Mosaic to further curb Saskatchewan potash output
Nutrien to idle three Saskatchewan potash mines
Reading Time: < 1 minute Canadian fertilizer giant Nutrien plans to shut down three of its Saskatchewan potash mines for up to two months in the fourth quarter of the year. The Saskatoon company said Wednesday it “expects to proactively take up to eight-week inventory shutdowns” at its mines at Allan, Lanigan and Vanscoy, Sask. during that period. If all […] Read more
Nutrien steers potash recovery as BHP waits in wings
Reading Time: 3 minutes Winnipeg/London | Reuters — Canada’s Nutrien, the world’s biggest potash miner by capacity, has helped engineer a surprising price rebound for the fertilizer by idling capacity. Now the trick will be keeping prices from appreciating too much to ensure a major would-be competitor, BHP Billiton, stays on the sidelines. BHP has been weighing an entry […] Read more
Price spike in sulphur leaves farmers, fertilizer makers sour
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — Phosphate fertilizer producers such as Mosaic Co. and PotashCorp are paying the highest prices in two years for sulphur, a key ingredient in their farm products, but farmers are the ones absorbing the extra cost. Higher sulphur costs, the result of tight global supplies and strong Chinese demand, come as fertilizer […] Read more
Irma whips orange trees, shuts meat plants
Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Hurricane Irma stripped oranges from trees and prompted Tyson Foods to shut meat plants in Florida and Georgia on Monday to keep workers safe. Tyson, the biggest U.S. meat company, hopes to resume normal operations soon at chicken plants it shuttered in Cumming, Dawson and Vienna, Ga., and at a beef […] Read more
Canada’s antitrust watchdog clears Nutrien merger
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s Competition Bureau will put up no reasons why PotashCorp and Agrium shouldn’t be joined in Nutrien. The federal antitrust regulator on Monday issued a “no action” letter on the all-stock merger-of-equals that Saskatoon’s PotashCorp and Calgary’s Agrium proposed in September last year. The two companies, when merged, are to be headquartered in Saskatoon under […] Read more
Mosaic shares tumble on disappointing fertilizer guidance
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters – U.S. fertilizer producer Mosaic Co on Tuesday forecast slower phosphate sales and weaker prices for the current quarter, causing shares to plunge as much as 9 percent. The Minnesota-based company predicted third-quarter phosphate sales of 2.2 million to 2.5 million tonnes, down from 2.6 million in the second quarter. Mosaic forecast third-quarter diammonium […] Read more
Canpotex aims for ‘material’ potash price bump from China
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian potash exporter Canpotex is pressing Chinese buyers to pay a “material” price increase for the fertilizer in their annual supply contract, as spot values in other markets rise off multi-year lows, Canpotex’s chief executive said on Monday. “We’re not interested in some kind of ratcheting down. That is for sure,” […] Read more
Potash prices look lower for longer as competition overheats
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The deepest slump in a decade for the oversupplied potash fertilizer market may abate only slightly in 2017, major producers say, and could take years to correct due to the imminent startup of new mines. PotashCorp, the world’s biggest fertilizer producer, forecast a less profitable year on Thursday than analysts expected, and reported […] Read more
Vale sells fertilizer unit to Mosaic
Reading Time: 3 minutes Brasilia/Sao Paulo | Reuters — Vale SA’s US$2.5 billion sale of its fertilizer business to Mosaic Co., the latest step in the Brazilian iron ore miner’s strategy to reduce debt, also makes it the U.S. company’s biggest shareholder. Mosaic, which made the deal to improve its access to Brazil’s vast agricultural markets, will pay $1.25 […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
