Thursday, January 17, 2013

North American Potash Inventories Swell, Despite Output Cuts (MOS; POT)

It appears peak fertilizer will be pushed out in time.
POT  $41.81 while MOS is just three bucks off its 1-year high at $58.99.
From Agrimoney:
Potash inventories held by North American producers such as Mosaic and PotashCorp closed 2012 at their highest, for a year end, since at least 2007 despite efforts to curtail supplies by cutting back output, as domestic demand flagged.
North American producers' stockpiles of the nutrient rose by 86,000 tonnes to more than 3.1m tonnes last month, data from PotashCorp showed.
The increase, in a period when inventories usually rise ahead of drawdown as farmers prepare for spring applications, was slightly lower than the typical increase, stemmed by capacity cutbacks by potash groups in an effort to match production better with demand.
 Output, at some 1.3m tonnes, was 27% lower in December than a year before.
Domestic sales  vs exports
Nonetheless, stockpiles ended the year 37% above the five-year average level, and at their highest for a year end since at least 2007.
The rise inventories, despite the production cutbacks, reflected a steep drop in domestic sales of the nutrient, which tumbled 34% to less than 500,000 tonnes, and to the lowest since February....MORE
Recently:
Mosaic Beats Reduced Expectations, Predicts Sharp Drop in Potash Prices (MOS; POT)
Vaclav Smil Takes on Jeremy Grantham Over Peak Fertilizer