Friday, October 26, 2007

Potash suspends sales as Russian sinkhole expands

From the National Post:

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT/TSX, POT/NYSE) has suspended sales to new clients due to new concerns regarding potash supply coming out of Russia.

Russian-based potash producer Silvinit said Thursday that it may have to suspend all potash rail shipments after a sinkhole created earlier in the year by the collapse of a neighbouring mine, expanded by another 30 metres on Oct. 24.

According to Silvinit, the expanding sinkhole now threatens to swallow up the only available rail track that it uses to transport production to customers and export terminals.

"We felt the best and most prudent course would be to suspend any new sales until we knew where the dust was going to settle," Potash president and CEO Bill Doyle said in a conference call covering the company's quarterly results....MORE