Potash company in profits warning

23 September 1998

Potash company in profits warning

THE worlds largest fertiliser company, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PCS), has warned its third-quarter earnings would be disappointing because of continued weak nitrogen markets.

Prices for nitrogen, the main ingredient for ammonia and urea fertilisers, have been depressed because of over capacity, with production being increased in China, the former Soviet Union, India and the Middle East.

PCS entered the nitrogen market last year when it purchased Arcadian of the US, the western hemispheres largest nitrogen company.
It said its gross margins for nitrogen would be down more than US $20 million (£11.9m) from the third-quarter 1997 figure of $29.7m.

• Financial Times 23/09/98 page 38