Potash defendants may appeal to U.S. Supreme Court

Chicago — The defendants in the Minn-Chem Inc. v. Agrium Inc. case told Green Markets last week that they are weighing their options and may appeal the recent 8-0 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit (GM July 2, p. 1) to send a potash antitrust case against major global producers back to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. The defendants may ask the Supreme Court to hear their case, but it is not an automatic appeal; they can decline to hear it. The defendants – Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., The Mosaic Co., Agrium Inc., Uralkali, Belaruskali, Silvinit, and IPC – are accused of price-fixing. The plaintiffs in the class action suit are U.S. potash buyers, who alleged that the defendants, which produce 71 percent of the world’s potash, initiated a cartel that beginning in mid-2003 drove prices up some 600 percent by 2008.