Resumen de Fertiliser outlook: : Oversupplied and under-priced
According to Jeffery Brown, director of Vancouver-based junior mining company Encanto Potash, the commodity price swings of 2008-2012 changed the landscape of the potash market, resulting in several entities attempting to break into the market via new projects. The long-awaited merger between PotashCorp and Agrium brings the new company’s nameplate capacity to more than 20 million tpy. Since PotashCorp is one of the world’s lowest-cost producers of potash and Agrium has an extensive retail network in the US, the merger is likely to be an effective one for both firms. According to SpendEdge, suppliers in the fertilizer industry are replacing old technology with new and advanced technology, which boosts utilisation rates and lowers production costs. The company also expects raw material prices for its products to decline when it brings online additional production throughout 2018. Since higher phosphate prices have been driven by a dip in US and Chinese exports, higher raw material costs and demand from India and Brazil, Integer Research expects only a short-lived price rally.
