Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. President and CEO Bill Doyle today downplayed the recent Uralkali actions that have caused concern throughout the potash industry. Doyle, speaking in a virtual meeting on the PotashCorp website, said spats between Russian and Belarusian entities in the past were not uncommon. In those instances, they patched up their differences.
Asked about whether this was a temporary break-up, Doyle said he thought it would be “shorter rather than longer,” and that logic would prevail.
Doyle reiterated that there would be no change at Canpotex Ltd., the Saskatchewan producer export group, which just recently celebrated 40 years in business.
As for Uralkali’s assertion that prices may drop 25 percent, Doyle said no one producer can determine price, noting that supply and demand determines that.
Doyle called North America, PotashCorp’s largest market, and that Uralkali was not going to determine the price there. He said it might have influence in some places but not others. He noted that PotashCorp has extensive infrastructure throughout North America while Uralkali has no infrastructure and is only a minor player selling barges at the U.S. Gulf.
Asked about the prospect for new greenfield potash mines in light of the news, Doyle said they were not economical before the news.
Doyle said he believes nitrogen and phosphates have their own fundamentals and will not see an impact from new developments in the potash market.