Potash suspends sales as Russian sinkhole expands
Today, from the AP via BusinessWeek:
Also on Friday, the WSJ's Energy Roundup had this note and link:Shares of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. climbed in Monday premarket trading, after a Banc of America Securities analyst upgraded the shares of the fertilizer company and said a major competitor may exit the market, which could lead to higher potash prices.
Analyst Marshall E. Reid said Silvinit, a Russian potash producer, may be forced to stop shipping potash when it loses a main rail line.
Reid said Silvinit is likely to lose its only rail line in the next few weeks, which will take the company out of the market, at least temporarily. Reid said a new rail line will be built, but that will take at least four months. Silvinit ships all its potash on one line.
"The potash market is already very tight," Reid wrote in a client note...MORE
When investors think of hot stocks, Potash Corp of Saskatchewan usually doesn’t make the list. It probably should. Shares of the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, fertilizer maker have more than doubled this year, mostly because of the ethanol-driven agriculture boom. As the price of corn, an ethanol ingredient, soared early this year, farmers rushed to cash in. That resulted in one of the biggest corn crops on record and huge demand — and rising prices — for fertilizers like potash.
