Canpotex Ltd., the offshore selling agency for leading North American potash miners, has signed a new potash supply contract with Indian buyers at a smaller than expected discount. The deal to supply India with the crop nutrient for the remainder of 2013 ends a long standoff by Indian buyers that dented profits for producers such […] Read more
Canpotex sells potash to India at discount
Agrium fires back at Jana’s plan to split company
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian fertilizer company Agrium Inc. will not split its wholesale and retail divisions as its biggest shareholder, Jana Partners, wants because doing so would “destroy value” for shareholders, chief executive Mike Wilson said Jan. 28. Wilson was speaking in New York to Agrium’s sell-side analysts in an attempt to blunt Jana’s move to replace some […] Read more
PotashCorp sees gradual recovery in 2013
PotashCorp of Saskatchewan forecast a modest rebound in earnings for 2013, with key importers in China and eventually India resuming purchases of the crop nutrient potash, but the company’s recovery will be more gradual than expected. PotashCorp, the world’s biggest fertilizer company, reported a surprisingly large drop in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday and gave a […] Read more
Post-monopoly grain sales going smoothly, Cargill says
Grain sales and movement across Western Canada have gone smoothly in the first year after the region’s grain-marketing monopoly ended, Cargill Ltd. president Len Penner said Wednesday. The Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly expired on Aug. 1, allowing farmers to sell their grain to any buyer for the first time in 69 years. Cargill, the third-largest […] Read more
Potash producers settle U.S. antitrust cases
Potash producers PotashCorp, Mosaic Co. and Agrium have settled U.S. antitrust lawsuits that accused them of artificially inflating potash prices. PotashCorp and Mosaic paid $43.75 million each while Agrium paid $10 million to settle the cases brought by U.S. buyers in 2008, the companies said in separate statements on Wednesday (all figures US$). Russian group […] Read more
Agrium fires back at shareholder aiming to split company
Fertilizer and ag retail giant Agrium will not split its wholesale and retail divisions as its biggest shareholder, Jana Partners, wants because it would "destroy value" for shareholders, Agrium’s CEO said on Monday. Mike Wilson was speaking in New York to Agrium’s sell-side analysts in an attempt to blunt Jana’s move to replace part of […] Read more
Jana taking case for Agrium breakup to Canada
Activist shareholder Jana Partners LLC said Wednesday it is taking its case for splitting up Agrium to the fertilizer company’s Canadian investors, just ahead of an Agrium move to solidify its support among sell-side analysts. Jana, a New York-based hedge fund, wants Agrium to split its farm retail division from its wholesale operations and make […] Read more
COOL costs farmers $2 billion: Pork Council report
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters / The United States’ country-of-origin meat-labelling rules have directly cost the Canadian hog and pork industry more than $2 billion, according to a report that could help determine retaliation against U.S. exports if Washington does not change its rules. The United States must bring its labelling rules, known by the acronym COOL, into compliance […] Read more
Canada, U.S. agree on livestock disease zoning
Canada and the United States have agreed to maintain livestock and meat trade during animal disease outbreaks using a new system that targets trade bans more precisely by region, federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Wednesday. In 2003, the U.S. and many other countries halted beef imports from Canada after the discovery of bovine spongiform […] Read more
Pork sector reports over $2B in COOL-related losses
U.S. country-of-origin labeling (COOL) rules have directly cost Canada’s hog and pork industry more than $2 billion, according to a report that could help determine retaliation against U.S. exports if Washington does not change its requirements. The U.S. must bring the labeling rules into compliance with a World Trade Organization ruling by May 23, according […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
