Changes to the global potash market threaten Canadian price stability
The collapse of a potash cartel in Eastern Europe earlier this week caused panicky selling in the stock market, and raised fears about potash revenue and royalties in New Brunswick. However, the general manager of PotashCorp in New Brunswick appears unfazed.
Shares of major North American potash producers fell sharply Tuesday on word that the Russian company, OAO Uralkali is pulling out of a marketing group and is expected to undercut competitors’ prices for the fertilizer.
The company announced it was withdrawing from a joint venture with another company from Belarus that set the price for about a third of the world’s potash supply. Instead, it plans to sell more potash to China, which buys about one fifth of the world’s supply of the fertilizer.