Potash

Potash in 2012: Rising populations create new demand growth

Potash is a vital fertilizer for farmers around the world. As populations rise and land available for agriculture diminishes, the need for increased crop yields grows dramatically.

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Gutseriev to Spend $100 Million on Belarus Potash Plant in 2012

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By Aliaksandr Kudrytski

GCM Global Energy Plc plans to invest $100 million this year in building a potash plant in Belarus, the country’s Council of Ministers said today, citing the Russian company’s owner Mikhail Gutseriev.

“The company Slavkali has been created, mining allotments have been received, staff hired, a budget approved, and an engineering contract signed,” the Council cited Gutseriev as saying in a posting on its website after the businessman met Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich today in the capital, Minsk. Read more

IC Potash shares jump after deal with Yara

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Shares of Canada’s IC Potash (ICP) rose 15 percent on Monday after it struck a deal to sell a 19.9 percent stake in the company to Norwegian fertilizer maker Yara for C$39.8 million ($39.9 million).

The deal, announced late on Friday, will result in Yara paying C$1.32 a share, a near 50 percent premium – for 30.1 million new shares in the Toronto-based potash exploration company. ICP’s shares closed on Friday at 89 Canadian cents a share. Read more

Vale Agrees to Lease a Petrobras Potash Mine, Valor Says

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By Juan Pablo Spinetto

Vale SA (VALE5) agreed to lease a potash mine owned by Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4) for 30 years to set up a fertilizer project worth $4 billion, newspaper Valor Economico reported, citing sources it didn’t identify.

Vale will pay the Brazilian state-controlled oil company a percentage of the revenues generated by the project, located in the Brazilian northeastern state of Sergipe, the Sao Paulo-based newspaper said. Read more

Uralkali Ready to Cut Potash Output to Protect 45% Price Gain: Commodities

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By Firat Kayakiran

OAO Uralkali (URKA), Russia’s biggest fertilizer maker, is ready to cut production to prevent potash prices from falling after Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. announced reductions this year.

“Our strategy is that price is much more important than volumes,” Chief Financial Officer Victor Belyakov said in an interview yesterday in London. “It’s a strategy for most of the big players in the market. We usually cut some production to come up with a fair price.” Read more

Mosaic results beat forecasts

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By Ernest Scheyder

Fertilizer producer Mosaic Co. (MOS-N  52.30  -0.29  -0.55%) has posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as higher prices helped offset a dip in phosphate sales and flat potash volumes.

The company warned that volumes may remain sluggish into the spring, as its distributors and farming customers remain cautious due to economic uncertainty. Read more

Agrium to Expand Potash Capacity 50% With Saskatchewan Project

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By Liezel Hill

Agrium Inc. (AGU), North America’s largest fertilizer company by revenue, approved an expansion in Canada’s Saskatchewan province that will increase its potash production capacity by about 50 percent to 3 million metric tons a year.

Agrium will enlarge its Vanscoy mine by 1 million tons, the Calgary-based company said in a statement today. The capital cost is estimated at about $1,500 a ton and the project will be completed by the second half of 2014, the company said. Agrium produced 1.8 million tons of potash in 2010. Read more

Karnalyte gets major financing for Saskatchewan. potash mine

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By Kip Keen

Karnalyte Resources (TSX:KRN) secured what amounts to a hefty down payment in a bid to finance construction of its Wynyard potash project in Saskatchewan and become Canada’s next potash producer. Karnalyte announced Tuesday evening it had arranged bought-deal financing led by BMO Capital Markets that would bring in at least C$115 million. Read more

Allana eyes $800m potash project in Ethiopia

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By Kip Keen

Allana Potash (TSX: AAA) got some solid reviews as it packaged its Danakhil potash project into a scoping study for the first time, outlining a 1-million-tonne per year solution mine in Ethiopia’s Danakhil basin, though one analyst questioned whether it was overly rosy on transportation assumptions.

Allana, which contracted ERCOSPLAN to draw up the potash plans, said the 30-year mine would cost $796 million to build and would produce potash of muriate, Read more

Potash Rally to Slow as Uralkali, Mosaic Expand Mine Capacity: Commodities

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By Christopher Donville and Sonja Elmquist

Potash’s rebound from the biggest plunge in 48 years will slow next year as Mosaic Co. (MOS), Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. and OAO Uralkali increase mining capacity.

Potash Corp., the largest producer by market value, will see its average selling price climb 22 percent in 2012 after an estimated 35 percent gain this year, Don Carson, an analyst at Susquehanna Financial Group in New York, said in an Oct. 28 note. U.S. Midwest prices will fall 5.2 percent in 2012 after rising 32 percent this year, according to RBC Capital Markets. Read more

Reviewing cash burn rates for junior potash firms

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By Peter Koven

When market turmoil increases, it can be almost impossible for junior mining companies to raise any money (see 2008, for example). Given the uncertainty in the air today, Mackie Research analyst Jaret Anderson decided that this is a good opportunity to review the cash positions of junior potash companies and see who is best equipped to get through a bear market.

He found that Allana Potash Corp., Karnalyte Resources Inc. and Western Potash Corp. are in very solid shape, with cash balances of $55-million, $35-million and $25-million respectively. Read more

Uranium and potash and emerging and frontier markets

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By  Zig Lambo

The Energy Report: Carlos, as publisher of the Frontier Research Report based in Uruguay, you seek out attractive undervalued situations in the metals mining area and in energy and agricultural minerals. Can you explain your philosophy in making investment selections for the portfolio that you follow?

Carlos Andres: Sure. We’ve chosen the junior exploration space because we believe it gives investors the best bang for their buck. It’s high risk but it can also provide the highest imaginable returns. By investing in well-researched companies, with strong management and highly prospective projects, investors can make many multiples of their initial investments as companies successfully transition from explorer through development to producer.

Potash, aluminum, copper continue to have promise-Scotiabank

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Scotiabank Group’s Patricia Mohr Wednesday predicted potash prices will tighten next year “with onward growth in world consumption in the face of only limited new mine & mill capacity expansion.” Read more

Potash Corp. pullback makes stock a bargain

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By John Shmuel

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan’s stock has not been spared the drubbing stocks have taken in the past week — and that could be a good thing.

Analyst Ben Isaacson at Scotia Capital upgraded the fertilizer company’s stock this week, saying that a steep reduction in Potash Corp.’s share price has opened up an attractive valuation. Read more

Karnalyte could be next Saskatchewan potash producer

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By Peter Koven

It has been four decades since a greenfield potash mine was built in Saskatchewan. As a group of junior potash companies emerged on the scene over the last few years, investors wondered which one would build the next one.

Scotia Capital analyst Ben Isaacson thinks it may be Karnalyte Resources Inc. Unlike so many other Saskatchewan potash projects, Karnalyte’s Wynyard project has a reasonable capital cost — Mr. Isaacson expects costs of just US$445-million to reach initial production capacity of 500,000 tonnes a year, and US$1.75-billion to bring capacity to two million tonnes a year (compared to the company’s estimate of US$1.51-billion). Read more

Potash producers reaping record profits

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By Paul Waldie

Stock markets may be shaky and North American economies sluggish, but one sector is booming and showing no signs of slowing down – farm fertilizer.

Three of the world’s largest fertilizer companies – Agrium Ltd., (AGU-T 83.75  1.99  2.43%) Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (POT-T 55.07  0.41  0.75%) and Mosaic Co. (MOS-N70.001.161.69%) – have all reported record profits and bullish outlooks as farmers around the world scramble to take advantage of rising prices for almost every crop. Read more

Potash Corp. doubles profit, boosts outlook

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By May Jeong

Strong global demand for fertilizer is driving up Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan’s profits, boosting the company’s outlook for the third quarter.

The Saskatoon-based company reported a 75-per-cent increase in second-quarter earnings Thursday, thanks to surging grain prices around the world and rising food demands from emerging economies in Southeast Asia and Brazil. Read more

Junior potash stocks surge as potash prices strengthen

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By Kip Keen

Though there was no obvious news as a catalyst, the shareprice of two junior potash companies, Allana Resources (TSX-V: AAA) and Passport Potash (TSX-V: PPI), surged Wednesday on heavy trading volumes.

Passport Potash jumped 25 percent to C$0.75 and Allana Potash climbed 13 percent to C$1.59. In terms of stock with the highest trading volumes on the Toronto Venture Exchange, Allana and Passport respectively Read more

ENVIRONMENTAL: EIS for Jansen potash project gets okay

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The Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment has approved the environmental impact statement (EIS) filed by BHP Billiton for the Jansen potash project near Lanigan. The EIS was submitted for technical review and public comment in December 2010.

BHP Billiton expects Jansen to make a substantial long term contribution to both local communities and the province. The project is expected to employ an average of 1,900 people during construction and create approximately 1,000 operational jobs once the mine has reached full capacity. Read more

Could Western Potash get crowded out of Saskatchewan?

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