Nutrien Ltd., Saskatoon, Sask., announced on May 14 that it plans to cut production capacity at its Vanscoy potash mine in Saskatchewan from 2.2 million mt to 1.7 million mt in the third quarter of 2019, and to reduce staffing levels at the mine by approximately 20 full-time employees and 60 hourly positions.
“Given the potash market continues to be in a state of recovery, it is critical that Nutrien’s potash network remain competitive globally,” the company said. “Nutrien expects to increase production at its lower cost mines and anticipates around 80 vacancies at other Saskatchewan sites over the remainder of 2019.”
The announcement follows earlier cuts to Vanscoy capacity and staffing levels that Nutrien implemented in late 2018 as part of ongoing efforts to rebalance the company’s overall potash production. The 2018 changes, which were announced last August (GM Aug. 3, 2018), reduced Vanscoy staff by 30 full-time and 50 hourly positions, leaving approximately 585 employees at the site. Nutrien also announced last August that it was shifting some 400,000 mt/y of potash production from Vanscoy to other Nutrien mines in Saskatchewan. Total nameplate capacity at Vanscoy is approximately 3 million mt/y.
“Nutrien is committed to supporting the transition for our impacted employees and their families during this difficult period,” said Susan Jones, CEO of Nutrien Potash, on May 14. “We will do all that we can to relocate employees to job vacancies across our network. The changes announced today will allow our Vanscoy site to operate in a more sustainable state and provide remaining employees a more stable future.”
Nutrien has been shifting potash production capacity to its low-cost Rocanville mine, where a $3 billion expansion was completed in the fall of 2017 (GM Oct. 13, 2017). Upgrades at the legacy Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. mine took nameplate capacity at Rocanville from 3 million mt/y up to 6.5 million mt/y, and doubled the site’s workforce to more than 750 employees.
Nutrien owns and operates six of the 10 potash mines in Saskatchewan, and touts the Rocanville mine as its lowest cost operation. In addition to Vanscoy and Rocanville, the company’s other potash mines are at Lanigan, Patience Lake, Allan, and the Cory facility in Saskatoon.