Both The Mosaic Co., Tampa, and Nutrien Ltd., Saskatoon, reported the impact on soft fertilizer markets on their third-quarter results released Nov. 4. Both companies reduced 2019 guidance.

Mosaic’s posted a third-quarter net loss attributable to Mosaic of $44.1 million ($0.11 per diluted share) on net sales of $2.75 billion, compared to year-ago net income of $247.5 million ($0.64 per share) and $2.93 billion, respectively.

“While the challenging market environment has persisted longer than we had anticipated, the actions we are taking give us an improved platform to deliver value and shareholder returns,” said Mosaic President and CEO Joc O’Rourke. “We are seeing volumes move in North America and believe that strong volumes will lead to improved pricing. We believe that the bottom of the market is in and that 2020 will be a much stronger year for Mosaic and the customers we serve.”

Mosaic also revised full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance to $1.4-$1.5 billion down from $1.8-$2 billion and adjusted EPS guidance to $0.50-$0.60 down from $1.10-$1.50, primarily reflecting the impact of historically low potash sales volumes due to delayed Canpotex shipments to India and China, and expectations that phosphate margins and pricing remain consistent with September 2019 levels, $10-$15/mt lower than the third-quarter 2019 average.

Nutrien was in the plus column with third-quarter net income of $141 million ($0.24 per diluted share) on sales of $4.13 billion compared to the year-ago loss of $1.04 billion ($1.70 per share) and $3.99 billion, respectively.

“Nutrien’s third-quarter results and fourth-quarter expectations are impacted by short term market softness,” said Chuck Magro, Nutrien President and CEO. “However, we believe that agriculture fundamentals are starting to strengthen and we expect 2020 to be a strong year for crop input demand for which we are well positioned to benefit.” Based on nine-month results and market factors, Nutrien has lowered 2019 adjusted net earnings guidance to $2.30-$2.55 per share, down from $2.70-$3.00 and adjusted EBITDA to $4-$4.3 billion, down from $4.35-$4.7 billion.

K+S Group, Kassel, announced today it has merged the subsidiaries, K+S KALI GmbH and esco-european salt company GmbH & Co. KG, into one company under the name of K+S Minerals and Agriculture GmbH. The company already merged its disposal and logistics activities into K+S KALI GmbH in July.

The move is another step towards becoming “One K+S” under the new corporate strategy “Shaping 2030”, the company said.

Alexa Hergenröther, CEO of K+S’ Europe+ operating unit, and Bastian Siebert, Head of Operations in the Europe+ operating unit, are both general managers of the new company.

Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL), Tel Aviv, announced it has signed an agreement on Oct. 30 with Indian Potash Ltd. (IPL) to “update the price by $10 less per tonne, for all its potash shipments to the buyer from October 2019 to March 2020”. The supplier did not disclose if delivery volumes had been agreed. However, ICL last December inked a five-year supply agreement with IPL, under which it said it expected to supply the Indian importer with 600,000 mt per year in 2019 and 2020.

The Israeli company is the third supplier to announce a new contract for the sale of potash to IPL, and follows Uralkali Trading, the first supplier to reach a deal with the Indian buyer, and Belarus Potash Co. (BPC), all agreeing new supply contracts at $280/mt CFR with 180 days’ credit, and at a $10 discount to the 2018/19 contract price.

Belarusian Potash Company (BPC) announced Oct. 26 it had reached an agreement on a new supply contract with Indian Potash Ltd. (IPL), making it the second supplier after Uralkali Trading to announce a contact settlement with the Indian buyer for 2019/20.

BPC said the result of negotiations was “the settlement of a contract implying the supply of potash fertilizers to the Indian market at $280/mt cfr with 180 days’ credit”. This is in line with the price Uralkali was reported to have agreed with IPL. The Belarus supplier did not comment on the delivery period or delivery volumes.

Uralkali, Moscow, announced this morning its subsidiary Uralkali Trading has concluded a contract with Indian Potash Limited (IPL), India’s biggest potash importer, for potash deliveries between October 2019 and March 31, 2020.

Market sources late Oct. 24 confirmed that India had settled its first potash supply contract for 2019/20 at a $10 discount to last year’s contract price, meaning a new contract price of $280/mt CFR with 180 days’ credit versus last year’s $290/mt CFR. However, at the time it was not known which supplier had settled with IPL.

Uralkali in today’s statement did not confirm the price agreed with IPL, saying only that “the contract delivery price for potash fertilizers has been set at as per the market level”.

Uralchem, Moscow, and Angola’s Grupa Opaia SA, have signed a Memorandum of Construction (MoC) for an ammonia and urea plant in the country, according to an Interfax report. The plant will have around 1.2 million mt/y of urea capacity and output will go to both the domestic and export market, according to the report, citing Uralchem Deputy Board Chairman, Dmitry Konyaev. Angola’s state oil and gas company, Sonangol, will supply the required gas volumes.

Phosagro, Moscow, plans to open a trading office in South Africa as part of its plans to increase its fertilizer sales to Africa, according to an Interfax report citing the group’s CEO Andrey Guryev. The Russian fertilizer group is also reported to be in talks with local junior phosphate miner Kropz SA (Pty) Ltd. about potential cooperation.

The plans for the trading office are to open an office in Cape Town at the end of this year or in early 2020. PhosAgro shipped 320,000 mt of fertilizers to Africa in 2018 and sales are expected to reach 400,000 mt this year.

The Russian fertilizer group and Kropz reportedly plan to ink a Memorandum of Understanding at the ongoing Russia-Africa forum in Sochi, Russia, being held Oct. 23-24, according to the report, citing PhosAgro’s CEO.

Kropz is developing the Elandstontein phosphate mining project in South Africa’s Western Cape Province, which is the second largest phosphate deposit in the country. The possible cooperation with PhosAgro may not only encompass solving common marketing problems, but could also become a [potential] foundation for joint investment, according to the report, citing the Russian group’s CEO.