All Posts from January 26, 2017

CPS worker killed in accident

An employee of Agrium’s Crop Production Services was killed in a fertilizer-related accident Jan. 25 in Lakeville, N.Y. According to the local sheriff, three CPS workers were trying to unload fertilizer from a covered hopper rail car when the hopper got jammed. One fell into the hopper while trying to break up the jam. He became buried under the fertilizer and died. The others immediately called for help.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of our co-worker during this difficult time,” said an Agrium CPS spokesman. “We have only preliminary information about what happened and will continue to work with local authorities as well as conduct our own thorough investigation into the incident. To the family members and colleagues of the employee who passed away we will continue to offer our support.”

PotashCorp 4Q income off 70 percent

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. reported fourth-quarter net income of $59 million ($0.07 per diluted share) on sales of $1.06 billion for the fourth-quarter ending Dec. 31, 2016, down 70 percent from the year-ago $201 million ($0.24 per share) and $1.35 billion, respectively.

Full-year income was off 73 percent to $336 million ($0.40 per share) on sales of $4.46 billion, down from $1.27 billion ($1.52 per share) and $6.3 billion, respectively. The company gave 2017 full-year guidance of $0.35-$55 per share, which includes $0.05 per share for merger-related costs.

The company was the most upbeat on potash, saying that Canpotex had record second-half shipments in 2016 and is fully committed for first-quarter 2017. It also cited improved prices, lower production costs from expansions, healthy underlying consumption trends and lower dealer inventories in most key buying areas. Overall, it expects a balanced market in 2017.

In nitrogen, PotashCorp sees a transition year as the industry works its way through new capacity.

The company is assessing its phosphate assets for a potential impairment, though it cautioned that this would not be significant to the company’s operational outlook. It expects challenging market fundamentals in 2017 and noted record fourth-quarter Chinese exports and slow demand in India, despite stronger shipments to Latin America.