Potash

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Analyst sees fertilizer shares flat into summer

Food prices still are skyrocketing, yet the rally for one key component — fertilizer — might be petering out. Farmers’ fields are saturated, making it difficult for fertilizer producers to hike prices, one analyst wrote Wednesday. Meanwhile, share prices in fertilizer companies have doubled since July.

Citigroup downgraded top producers Potash Corp. and The Mosaic Co. to “hold” from “buy,” Wednesday, and reduced his price targets for their shares. Get the full story »

Potash Corp. rival posts Q4 profit

Intrepid Potash posted its second straight market-topping quarterly profit as potash sales increased 44 percent on surging demand for grains.

Rising crop prices are giving strong incentives to farmers to maximize yield, which entails applying more fertilizer, thus helping fertilizer companies like Potash Corp. and Mosaic clock good sales numbers. Get the full story »

BHP makes first acquisition since Potash bid

Global mining giant BHP Billiton has agreed to buy shale gas interests from Chesapeake Energy Corp. for $4.75 billion in its first move into shale gas as it looks to beef up its oil and gas business.

In BHP’s first big acquisition since a string of failed deals, the global miner said it was buying Chesapeake’s holdings in Arkansas’ Fayetteville shale natural gas field. Get the full story »

Potash to add more execs at Saskatoon office

From the Calgary Herald | Potash Corp. announced Monday it will boost its head office contingent in Saskatoon from 209 employees to 300 by the end of 2013 as part of its “pledge to Saskatchewan.”

Potash Corp. profit more than doubles

Potash Corp. said Thursday that its quarterly profit more than doubled, as a surge in grain prices boosted crop nutrient demand and allowed the world’s top fertilizer maker to raise prices on key products. The Chicago and Saskatchewan-based company said fourth-quarter net income rose to $482.3 million, or $1.61 a share, from $239.2 million, or 79 cents a share, a year earlier. Get the full story »

Food inflation, bad weather lift Potash shares

Shares of North American agricultural companies, from fertilizer makers to grain handlers, will likely surge this year as weather-related crop damage causes global food price inflation.

Potash Corp. shares in New York have shot up more than 20 percent since mid-December to about $168, far exceeding the $130 per share offer it rejected last year in a hostile takeover bid by BHP Billiton. Get the full story »

Russian potash miner Uralkali to buy Silvinit

A Russian billionaire set the terms on Monday for a merger of Russia’s top two producers of potash, Uralkali and Silvinit to create the world’s No. 2 player.

The deal marks another step in consolidation in the global potash business, where a battle for dominance spurred BHP Billiton’s attempt to take over Potash Corp., which ultimately failed. Get the full story »

Potash CEO exercises $1.26M in options

From Canada’s Globe and Mail | Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan CEO Bill Doyle, of Winnetka, exercised 124,100 stock options this week, worth about $1.26 million less than two months after predicting the company’s stock price would “blow the doors off” its previous record high of about $240.

The options issued to Doyle a decade ago, had an exercise price of $10.16 and were set to expire Sunday. Earlier this year, Doyle exercised a batch of nearly 200,000 options from that same grant for pretax profits of $17.5 million.

BHP Billiton last week withdrew its $38.6 billion hostile takeover bid for Potash, saying it could not convince Canada’s federal government to approve the deal.Get the full story>>

Russia’s Phosagro to consult Canada on Potash bid

Russia’s Phosagro, chaired by an ally of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, said on Tuesday it would consult with Canada’s government on a bid for Potash Corp., which has its offices and CEO in Northbrook, after BHP Billiton withdrew.

“Phosagro intends to consult with all interested parties, including the government of Canada, on the advisability of a bid to buy Potash Corp as an alternative to BHP Billiton’s previous bid,” the Russian fertiliser producer said in an e-mailed statement. Get the full story »

Potash Corp. ‘vindicated’ by scrapped BHP bid

Potash Corp. said it was vindicated in its decision to reject BHP Billiton’s offer of $130 a share as too cheap and was in a strong position to grow on its own.

Shares of Potash Corp. have traded consistently above the bid price, closing at $139.91 on Friday.

BHP Billiton scrapped its $39 billion bid for Canada’s Potash Corp. on Sunday and bowed to calls from investors to return cash, a move that came days after regulators blocked the year’s biggest takeover deal. Get the full story »

Court to rule on Potash injunction request

A U.S. court will rule on Potash Corp.’s request for a preliminary injunction against unsolicited suitor BHP Billiton ahead of the November 18 deadline on the Anglo-Australian miner’s $39 billion tender offer, Judge David Coar said on Monday. Get the full story »

Potash: Shareholders need details on BHP plan

From Bloomberg | A lawyer for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s biggest fertilizer company, say the company’s shareholders need more information about BHP Billiton Ltd.’s plans to acquire the company or to compete against it.

Canada lets slip one reason for blocking BHP bid

Canada’s farm minister offered one reason that Canada blocked the proposed takeover of Potash Corp. on Thursday, but markets will have to wait a month for all the details to emerge.

Farm Minister Gerry Ritz, in comments his office later said were just speculation, argued that letting BHP Billiton buy the fertilizer giant would have offered Australia’s farm sector too much of an advantage. Get the full story »

Canada blocks BHP-Potash deal

The Canadian government on Wednesday blocked BHP Billiton’s $39 billion bid for Potash Corp., the world’s biggest producer of a key crop nutrient, halting what had been the world’s biggest takeover attempt this year and sending Potash Corp. shares tumbling.

Ottawa said the Anglo-Australian miner’s takeover bid offered no likely net benefit to the country as required by Canadian law. BHP has 30 days to make additional representations to the Canadian government before the decision is final. Get the full story »

Russian company plans to bid for Potash

Russian fertilizer company Phosagro plans to bid for Potash Corp, according to a media report, rivalling BHP Billiton’s $39 billion offer awaiting a crucial ruling from the Canadian government. Phosagro Chairman Vladimir Litvinenko has asked Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to approve a potential deal and request financing from Russian banks, Russian business daily Vedomosti reported on Wednesday. Get the full story »