BHP Billiton to take a $2.8 billion write-down on US assets

The increase in the demand for potash, along with higher prices, is fuelling an expansion of PotashCorp's Allan mine in Sasatchewan, The Star Phoenix reports. The $550 million expansion began in 2009 and is expected to push production at the site from two million to three million tonnes per year by 2012: “Over the last two decades the potash industry has been fairly stable, it had plateaued,” said Larry Long, general manager of the Allan mine. “Now with all the influx of orders for potash, the market has expanded quite a bit, countries all over the world are using our product at a higher rate, so we are in a position where we have to expand to meet the demand.

A giant mine on the coast of Yorkshire “will unearth billions” of pounds of potash, according to a report in The Scarborough […]

PotashCorp said on Tuesday that inventory in January was down 84,770 tonnes, about 24% below the previous five-year average. PotashCorp produces approximately 23% of the world's supply of potash. It is also a major producer of phosphate and nitrogen. Current spot prices puts potash at just under $400 a ton. Jay Taylor, editor of J. Taylor's Gold, Energy & Tech Stocks newsletter, says that major potash firms are trying to improve their positions, so they can benefit from a sector that is expected to grow.

ICL says a new potash contract further strengthens the Israeli company’s presence in the growing Chinese market.

The United Nations estimates that the world’s population will reach 7.7 billion by 2020 and 9.3 billion in 2050. Another UN estimate says that only 30 percent of the arable land used in the 1950s will be available in 2050.

Australian uber-miner BHP Billiton is moving ahead with its Jansen potash project.

As PotashCorp reported the second highest sales in its history, CEO Bill Doyle forecast a record 9.5 million to 10 million tonnes […]

Agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. is spinning off its majority stake in fertilizer producer Mosaic (MOS-N72.47-3.68-4.83%) setting the stage for another potential takeover battle over prized Saskatchewan […]

News Blaze reports: Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP) has acquired Big Quill Resources Inc., Canada’s leading producer of sulphate of potash, in an […]