India: RCF Could Purchase Into Canadian Potash Mines

August 23, 2012 at 11:25 (Fertilizers, Potash Fertilizers)

Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd. (RCF), India’s second-biggest state-run maker of soil nutrients, plans to buy into potash mines in countries including Canada to secure supplies. Rashtriya Chemicals joins companies including Sinofert Holdings Ltd., a unit of China’s largest chemicals trader, that are looking for acquisitions overseas. India and China, the two most populous countries in the world, need to boost supplies of potash to ensure food security. World potash demand is forecasted to rise 3 percent this year, leaving a shortage, because of delays in commissioning new capacity. India and China, the two most populous countries in the world, need to boost supplies of potash to ensure food security. India imported 3.9 million tonnes of potash in the year ended last March, down from 6.3 million tonnes a year earlier, but China’s potash imports climbed to 6.4 million tonnes in 2011, up 22 percent from 5.24 million tonnes in 2010. According to the World Bank, MOP prices were last July 462.5 dollar per tonne, standard grade, spot, f.o.b. Vancouver, compared to an annual average of USD 435.3 in 2011.