April 2012
152 posts
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#Fertilizer market revival brings Yara record... →
Shares in Yara International gained, despite weaker-than-expected results, after the group said that the sharp recovery in potash demand as, highlighted by Mosaic and PotashCorp, had spread to the nitrogen market too.
Joergen Ole Haslestad, the Yara chief executive, acknowledged that fertilizer demand had proved “slow” in the first half of the fertilizer season, which began last July,...
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Vale ‘Very Concerned’ About $5.9 Billion Argentine... →
Vale SA (VALE3), the world’s second-largest mining company, is “very concerned” about its $5.9 billion potash project in Argentina, where the government last week seized control of oil producer YPF SA. (YPFD)
Vale, based in Rio de Janeiro, will present a review of its Rio Colorado potash project in the Argentine province of Mendoza to its board next month, Chief Executive Officer Murilo Ferreira...
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Yara increases ownership in #Ethiopian #potash... →
In 2009 Yara entered into an agreement with two partners to participate with 16.67% ownership in Ethiopotash. The partners were XLR with 57.33% ownership and management of the company, and Seftec with 26% ownership. Yara has now agreed to increase its ownership to 51% and take over management of the company, while XLR will retain a 49% ownership. Ethiopotash is developing a potash resource in...
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Melnichenko May Spin Off #Potash, Keep K+S Stake,... →
EuroChem, Russia’s largest fertilizer maker by revenue, is considering spinning off its potash business, billionaire Chairman Andrey Melnichenko told the Vedomosti daily in an interview.
EuroChem has projects to build two potash mines in Russia with combined capacity of 8 million metric tons a year, the newspaper said. EuroChem will be able to process only 1 million tons of these volumes into...
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#Russia Urges Acron to Re-Route #Phosphate... →
Russia’s Natural Resources Ministry urged fertilizer maker OAO Acron to change the planned transportation route for its phosphate project in the Murmansk region to bypass a nature reserve being created in the area.
The government plans to set up the Khibiny nature park in northwest Russia near Acron’s Partomchorr phosphate deposit, the ministry said on its website.
Acron is in touch with state...
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Ghana Starts $10 Million Cocoa-Farm Rehabilitation... →
Ghana, the world’s second-biggest cocoa producer, began a program to distribute higher-yielding trees to farmers in a bid to rehabilitate old plantations and boost output of the chocolate ingredient.
The 19 million-cedi ($10 million) program “will replace over-aged and unyielding trees and increase national output,” said Tony Fofie, chief executive officer of the state-run Ghana Cocoa Board, in...
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#Chile’s SQM Rebounds as Chairman Says Sales... →
Soc. Quimica & Minera de Chile SA, the country’s biggest fertilizer maker and world’s top lithium producer, erased a loss to head for its third straight gain.
SQM advanced 0.4 percent to 28,140 pesos at 12:48 p.m. Santiago time after declining as much as 1.2 percent.
Chairman and controlling shareholder Julio Ponce told the company’s annual general meeting in Santiago today that he has high...
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#Mining, #oil and gas led #Canada’s growth in 2011 →
Statistics Canada revealed today that the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan led the country in economic growth in 2011, buoyed by the extraction and exploration of their natural resources.
As a whole, the country’s economy grew 2.6% in 2011, slightly less than the 3.4% expansion experienced in 2010.
In the Western provinces, however, the economy picked up speed.
Alberta led the way with a...
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#Investors take a $1 billion chunk out of... →
Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (TSX:POT) dropped 3.4% when markets opened on Thursday, after revising its earnings guidance for the year and announcing a 26% drop in earnings.
The world’s number one producer of potash revised its full-year 2012 earnings guidance to $3.20–$3.60 per share, down from $3.40 to $4.00 before and said quarterly EBITDA earnings crashed from $1.1 billion last year to...
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BHP keeps adding to portfolio →
It has paid Archer Exploration $8 million for five tenements in the State’s far north.
This follows a similar $10 million deal with Minotaur Exploration announced last week.
The West Roxby tenements are about 90km southwest of BHP’s Olympic Dam mine and comprise 5 contiguous tenements covering about 3699 sq/km.
“The sale of the tenements will allow Archer to intensify its...
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Q1: #PotashCorp Reports First-Quarter Earnings of... →
Key Quarter and Outlook Highlights:
First-quarter earnings of $0.56 per share1
Record first-quarter nitrogen gross margin of $219 million
Second-quarter 2012 earnings guidance of $0.90-$1.10 per share
Revised full-year 2012 earnings guidance of $3.20-$3.60 per share
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (PotashCorp) today reported first-quarter earnings of $0.56...
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Why #agriculture #stocks are climbing →
Mosaic Co said it now expects fertilizer sales to be at the top end of a previously announced forecast, news that sent the company’s stock jumping in Wednesday trading.
In the past month demand for fertilizer has “increased sharply,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday, driven by a strong early North American spring season and rising shipments to South America.
Mosaic had previously...
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#PotashCorp cuts guidance after slow start to 2012 →
A worse-than-expected start to 2012 has prompted PotashCorp cut its guidance for profits, and sales, over the full year, despite supporting observations from rival Mosaic over a rebound in demand over the last month.
The Canada-based group, which in January unveiled profits short of market expectations, acknowledged that it had remained too optimistic over the potash market’s recovery from...
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Kazakhstan faces 'moisture deficit', UN warns →
The United Nations raised concerns for Kazakhstan’s wheat harvest, flagging a moisture shortage in main producing areas, as forecasters warned of continued dryness.
The UN’s food agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization, forecast an even bigger fall in the Kazakh wheat crop than the 34% plunge predicted by US farm officials, noting dryness stemming from “insufficient snow...
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#India - Fertiliser companies to reap rewards for... →
Increased volume offtake and low input prices through the March 2012 quarter are expected to boost revenues of complex fertiliser manufacturers. However, currency volatility, limited availability of phosphoric acid and higher inventory level with the dealers is likely to create margin pressure through FY13.
During the March 2012 quarter, sales volume of complex fertilisers surged 30% to 2.8...
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MBAC reports positive prefeasibility study results... →
TORONTO, April 23, 2012 /CNW/ - MBAC Fertilizer Corp. (“MBAC” or the “Company”) (TSX:MBC) (OTCQX:MBCFF) is very pleased to announce the results of the Prefeasibility Study (“PFS”) for the Company’s 100% owned Santana Phosphate Project (“Santana” or the “Project”) located in the southeast of Para State, Brazil. The PFS is based on an updated mineral resource estimate that includes drilling...
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Salman Partners Inc. Resumes Analyst Coverage on... →
TORONTO, ONTARIO—(Marketwire - April 24, 2012) - Allana Potash Corp. (TSX:AAA)(OTCQX:ALLRF) (“Allana” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that Salman Partners Inc. (“Salman Partners”) resumed analyst coverage of Allana on April 23, 2012. If you wish to receive a copy of the report directly, please contact Andrea Rubakovic, Salmon Partners at (416)...
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Elemental Minerals Ltd. - Identification of a... →
PERTH, Australia, April 24, 2012 /CNW/ - Elemental Minerals Ltd. (ASX, TSX: ELM) (“Elemental” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that it has identified high grade potash in a 3rd seam at its Kola Deposit further increasing the extent of the footprint. The company is also pleased to report that all assay results from the Phase 2 drilling programme, scheduled for...
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#Potash America, Inc. Information to be Available... →
RENO, Nev., April 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Potash America, Inc. (OTCBB: PTAM) The “Company” announced today that its corporate information would be made available via S&P Capital IQ’s Corporation Records Listing Program. As part of the program, a full description of Potash America, Inc. will be published in the Daily News Section of S&P Capital IQ’s Corporation...
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"Agent Orange" 2,4-D Corn is Coming to a field... →
The first generation of biotech crops has failed. And failed badly. In the last year alone, new studies have shown that Monsanto’s genetically-engineered Bt insecticide corn has not only created a new breed superbugs tolerant of the plant’s genetically engineered insecticide, but that those Bt toxins have also been found in the blood of 93 percent of woman and 80 percent of fetal blood samples in...
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#UN's World Food Programme to help computerise... →
The food and public distribution department has signed an agreement with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to scale up computerisation of the targeted public distribution system(TPDS) in the country. “The WFP programme will assist the selected states to expedite their TPDS computerisation programmes and will complement the ongoing efforts being made for modernisation of TPDS by...
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Pricing gap for GM #canola widens →
Campaigners against GM canola say a price difference between GM and conventional varieties is proof the genetic modification experiment in Australia has failed.
The price difference between the two is up to $30 per tonne, with conventional varieties getting a price premium from the European market.
Oilseeds Federation executive director Nick Goddard says customers in Asia are still demanding GM...
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#Ireland - Department of #Agriculture worker... →
A STATE employee is being investigated on suspicion of snooping on individuals’ financial data held by a government department.
The Irish Independent has learned that an internal investigation has been launched in the Department of Agriculture after an employee was suspected of having accessed the financial records of some of the country’s 130,000 farmers.
The investigators are also...
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PhosAgro extends hopes for rising #fertilizer... →
PhosAgro extended hopes for a rise in fertilizer sales, as it shrugged off the threat from Saudi Arabia’s massive Ma’aden project, in contrast with caution from Credit Suisse analysts.
PhosAgro said it “plans an overall increase in fertilizer production and sales in 2012”, despite the slowdown in world nutrient demand sparked by economic uncertainty and, late in 2011, a...
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#Nestle to buy Pfizer baby food unit for £7.3bn →
Swiss food group Nestle is to buy US drugmaker Pfizer’s infant nutrition business for $11.85bn (£7.35bn), beating out French rival Danone in the battle to gain preeminence in the lucrative baby food market.
Nestle, the world’s biggest food company, was already seen as a favoured bidder due largely to its deep pockets, and is paying for the acquisition in cash.
The fight for the unit...
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Excessive Bureaucracy Under #EU Subsidies →
EU - Danish Farm Minister and President in-office of the EU Farm Council, Ms Mette Gjerskov, highlighted the need for EU farmers to be able to compete in the marketplace at a major debate at Copa-Cogecas’ meeting for Presidents from the 27 member states today, stressing increased bureaucracy is the biggest threat.
Copa Vice-President Lorenzo Ramos highlighted how farmers in many member states...
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Aquila reveals #agriculture ambitions with $125m... →
Aquila Capital unveiled ambitions as a heavyweight in agricultural investment as the fund group revealed the formation of a globe-spanning farm management team, and the imminent closure of a fund-raising drive.
The alternative investment company, whose $5bn of interests also include forestry and green energy assets, revealed the appointment of seven managers, in countries including Australia,...
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Acron Reports Threefold Increase in Profit,... →
OAO Acron, a Russian fertilizer producer, said profit more than tripled last year as prices and output increased. Borrowings jumped 20 percent.
Net income advanced to 18.3 billion rubles ($622 million) from 5.58 billion rubles a year earlier, the Velikiy Novgorod- based company said in a statement. Net debt rose to 31.8 billion rubles ($1.14 billion) from 28.3 billion rubles, exceeding a $1.03...
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No Progress in U.S.-#Mexico #Poultry Trade... →
Behind the scenes negotiations to settle a poultry anti-dumping case filed by Mexican producers against their U.S. counterparts have collapsed, leaving the trade dispute in the hands of Mexican government officials. According to The Journal of Commerce, it is unclear what triggered the end of the bilateral talks. Last year, Mexico’s largest poultry producers filed an anti-dumping complaint...
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Why #Ukraine echoes #Brazil, but is unlike #China →
Ukraine is a bit like Brazil, but not like China. And that makes it the ideal place to base what will be the world’s biggest egg producer, according to Oleg Bakhmatyuk.
Ukraine, once known as the breadbasket of the Soviet Union, is akin to Brazil in its agricultural potential.
“It has some of the best land on the planet,” he tells Agrimoney.com
And lots of it. Enough to produce...
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#Sugar prices revive with fears for #Brazilian... →
Sugar prices revived as fears grew for cane production in Brazil’s key Centre South region, as Kingsman cut its crop estimate hours after a lowball figure from US officials, while Canaplan put a decline in production on the cards.
Kingsman, the Swiss-based consultancy, cut by 10m tonnes to 510m tonnes its forecast for the crop in the Centre South, which is responsible for nearly 90% of sugar...
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#EU has little scope to absorb #grain 'supply... →
European grain supplies have little scope to absorb a “supply shock” if harvest hopes, sapped by crop damage from frost and dryness, erode further, US officials said, flagging the start of a “critical period” for wheat yields.
This year’s European Union grains harvest will come in at 284m tonnes, a figure in line with the 2011 result, as losses of winter grains to...
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#Guinea Bissau #phosphate - will the coup change... →
So what is happening with the big phosphate project in Guinea Bissau, the small former colony that won its independence from Portugal in 1974? The government has been overthrown and - once again - the army is in control of the country from the capital, Bissau.
The military junta said it will wait two years before handing back fully power to civilians.
When similar action was taken in Mali just a...
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Insight: Wheels begin to turn in #India's #farm... →
It’s the first time that Perle, a village on the banks of the Krishna river in Maharashtra state, has seen a machine used for cutting the tough cane.
“This machine will harvest my entire field today,” says Prashant Kadam, the young owner of the compact two-acre plot. “Had it been harvested by laborers, they would have taken at least a week.”
A short drive away in a...
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Phosagro Sees #India #Phosphate Prices Buoyed... →
PhosChem, a trader representing Mosaic and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, is negotiating Indian prices of as much as $550 a metric ton, Volkov said on a conference call today, citing reports by Fertecon Ltd. and researcher FMB Consultants Ltd.
“This is positive and may lead to an upward correction in prices,” he said. Benchmark rates for diammonium phosphate in Florida fell as low as $482.50 in...
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Encanto #Potash selects pre-feasibility... →
Encanto Potash Corp. (“Encanto” or the “Company”) (TSXV: EPO) (OTCQX: ENCTF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Novopro Project Inc. (“Novopro”) to provide engineering services for its pre-feasibility study (“PFS”) on the Muskowekwan Potash Property in Saskatchewan. The PFS is the next level of evaluation following the very favourable PEA...
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Growing Domestic Demand for Agro-#minerals... →
Aguia Resources (ASX: AGR) announced that it would temporarily suspend potash exploration to focus on the development of its phosphate property at the Tres Estradas Phosphate Project, in the state of Rio Grande Sul. Aguia wants to intensify work at the Tres Estradas operation (‘TE’), where beneficiation is under way and independent consultants are preparing a mineral resources estimate in...
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Intrepid #Potash sees higher 1st-qtr potash sales →
(Reuters) - Fertilizer maker Intrepid Potash said it expects higher first-quarter potash sales this year as shipments continue to grow, ahead of the spring planting season.
The Denver, Colorado-based company estimates that it has sold 200,000-210,000 tons of potash in the first quarter, compared with the 196,000 tons it sold last year.
Estimated average price of potash — the third most...
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The Kola #Potash Deposit Mineralisation Extended →
Elemental Minerals Ltd.(ASX, TSX: ELM) (“Elemental” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce the completion of the Phase 2 drilling programme (Figure 1) and further assay results. The Company is planning to announce the Kola Deposit updated resource by the end ofApril 2012.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Shallow sylvinite intersections from EK_27 include:
Upper Seam: 3.30m at 27.41% K2O...
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#India - #Fertilizer ministry proposes price raise... →
The fertilizer ministry has moved a proposal to cabinet for raising the prices of the natural gas being supplied to Oman India Fertiliser Company(OMIFCO), a joint venture firm between Oman’s state-owned Oman Oil Co (OCC) and Indian co-operative firms Kribhco and IFFCO. The Omanese government, which has been demanding a revision in gas price from $ 0.77 per million british thermal unit to US...
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The Rio+20 #Earth summit must back peasant... →
The agenda for the upcoming Earth summit in Rio this June has a glaring hole: land rights.
I have spent the last two years investigating the global epidemic of land grabs for a book. Saudi sheikhs, private equity whizz-kids, Indian entrepreneurs and Chinese billionaires all believe, with financier George Soros, that “farmland is going to be one of the best investments of our time”.
...
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Engro #Fertilizer Earmarks $100 Million to Ensure... →
Engro Fertilizer Ltd., Pakistan’s biggest urea producer by capacity, is ready to invest as much as $100 million to source alternative natural-gas supplies as the country’s energy crisis cuts provision of the fuel.
“We are just waiting for government approval,” Chief Executive Officer Khalid Mansoor said in an interview in Karachi. “If there is a shortage at the Qadirpur field, we can link up to...
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#Australia's #cattle market has 'positive outlook' →
MP Evans forecast a bright outlook for Australian cattle prices, even after falls this year, as the feedlot-to-palm oil group unveiled a 62% jump in earnings, prompting a broker upgrade.
The performance of the group, which is listed in London, depends in the main on its Indonesian palm oil operations, which raised gross profit by 19.1% to $25.8m in calendar 2011, lifted by a rise in both prices...
