In line with Nutrien Ltd.’s plans to cut 80 jobs at its Vanscoy, Sask., potash mine, the company has confirmed plans to shift some 400,000 mt/y of potash production from Vanscoy to other Nutrien mines. This will take effective Vanscoy production down to 2.1 million mt/y from 2.5 million mt/y. Capacity is approximately 3 million mt/y.
Nutien Ltd., Saskatoon, reported net earnings from continuing operations of $741 million on sales of $8.14 billion, up from the year-ago $705 million and $7.35 billion.
The company said it has raised guidance based on firm market fundamentals and the rapid pace of synergy realization as well as a strong balance sheet.
Full-year adjusted earnings guidance has been raised to $2.40-$2.70 per share, up from $2.20-$2.60 and adjusted consolidated EBITDA to $3.7-$4 billion from $3.3-$3.7 billion.
Potash sales volumes have gone to 12.3-12.8 million mt from 12-12.5 million mt and Potash EBITDA to $1.4-$1.6 billion from $1.2-$1.4 billion.
Nitrogen sales volumes are now expected to be 10.3-10.7 million mt up from 10-10.4 million mt. EBITDA was raised to $1.1-$1.2 billion from $1-$1.2 billion.
Phosphate EBITDA guidance was raised to $0.2-$0.3 billion from $0.2-$0.25 billion.
CF Industries Holdings Inc., Deerfield, Ill., reported second-quarter net earnings attributable to common stockholders of $148 million ($0.63 per diluted share) on net sales of $1.3 billion, up from the year-ago $3 million ($0.01 per share) and $1.12 billion, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA was $468 million, up from $303 million.
“Our unmatched logistics capability allowed us to fully capitalize on the weather-delayed application season once it finally appeared in the second quarter, enabling us to ship a record 5.5 million product tons,” said Tony Will, CF president and CEO. He said the story of first-half 2018 was lower North American gas costs and higher nitrogen prices.
CF also reported plans to repurchase $500 million in stock through June 30, 2020 and reaffirmed plans to repay the remaining $500 million in public senior notes on or before the May 2020 maturity.
Nutrien Ltd., Saskatoon, announced Aug. 1 operational and workforce changes at its Vanscoy potash facility that will take effect in the fourth quarter of 2018. The changes include a reduction of approximately 30 staff and 50 hourly positions with approximately 585 employees expected to remain at the site. These changes are associated with a rebalancing of Nutrien’s overall potash production.
“This is a difficult day for our employees and their families, and we are committed to easing the transition for our impacted employees,” said Susan Jones, president of Nutrien Potash. “The changes will position Vanscoy to operate more efficiently within Nutrien’s entire potash network and ensure we can competitively serve our customers on a long-term basis. We have provided opportunities for Vanscoy employees to transition to other roles since the beginning of 2018 as we rebalance our network and expect to increase staffing levels at other Saskatchewan mines going forward.”
Nutrien will provide severance packages, assistance, transition programs and information on existing openings for affected employees. The company expects to have between 50 to 70 vacancies at other Saskatchewan potash mines over the remainder of 2018 and will continue to provide opportunities for Vanscoy employees to transition to other roles within Nutrien.
The MMTC urea tender closed Aug. 1 with 15 companies offering 1.85 million mt. The lowest prices were from Comzest at $278.95/mt CFR for an East Coast delivery and by Eastern at $274.80/mt CFR for a West Coast delivery. Both companies offered Iranian product.
Of the tonnage offered, four companies offered 750,000 mt of Iranian urea.
For more details and analysis of the tender see the Aug. 3 issue of Green Markets.
