(Dave Bedard photo)

PotashCorp Q3 profit disappoints ahead of merger

Reuters — Canada’s PotashCorp, set to merge with rival Agrium to withstand a fertilizer slump, reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit Thursday and narrowed its full-year forecast, pressuring its stock. Prices of crop nutrient potash have leveled off this year after hitting eight-year lows late last year due to low crop prices and excessive production capacity. […] Read more

A unit of 122 cars from the K+S potash mine at Bethune, Sask. arrived Sept. 27 at the company’s potash handling and storage facility at Port Moody, B.C. (KS-Potashcanada.com)

K+S to pool salt, potash units amid overhaul

Berlin | Reuters — German minerals miner K+S plans to integrate its salt and potash units as part of a strategic overhaul, it said on Monday as it set itself a new profit target for 2030. K+S, the world’s largest salt producer and the fifth-largest seller of potash, is grappling with a slow recovery in […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Shutdowns planned for two PotashCorp mines

Fertilizer firm PotashCorp plans to temporarily halt production at two Saskatchewan potash mines this winter to curb excess supply. The Saskatoon company, in the midst of seeking regulatory approvals for a merger with Calgary competitor Agrium, announced last week it will “curtail” production at its mines at Allan and Lanigan, Sask. The shutdowns will run […] Read more

(Staff photo)

Canada’s antitrust watchdog clears Nutrien merger

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





Tower structure at one of Mosaic’s potash mines near Esterhazy, Sask.  Photo: Greg Berg

Mosaic shares tumble on disappointing fertilizer guidance

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

(Fertilizer Safety and Security Council)

Farmers wait for fertilizer prices to fall amid oversupply

CNS Canada — As more fertilizer plants are built around the world and U.S. corn acreage shrinks, the typical thinking holds that prices for urea and nitrogen should fall, but that hasn’t been the case so far for Canadian farmers. “They’re more on the steady side,” said Todd Lewis, president of the Agricultural Producers Association […] Read more


BHP Billiton, whose Jansen, Sask. mine shaft is shown here, describes the mine as its “most advanced” project but still in its feasibility study stage. (BHPBilliton.com)

BHP stays course on potash mine few expected built

New York | Reuters — BHP Billiton’s Canadian potash mine will use advanced, cost-saving technology, giving it a competitive edge in a currently oversupplied fertilizer market, the executive in charge of the business said on Thursday. Australia-based BHP aims to start potash production at Jansen, Sask., about 70 km southeast of Humboldt, in 2023, eventually […] Read more