SASKATCHEWAN, Canada — Prices and demand for potash, an important fertilizer for farmers, have been on the increase, according to reports.

According to the mining markets and investment publication InvestmentMine, potash prices were at $218 per ton as of June 30, a rise of $4 from early this year.

The report showed that potash prices dropped from $220 in August of last year to as low as $214 into April, but then climbed back up to its current price. According to a BloombergMarkets report from April 27, potash prices have been recovering after a decade of weakness.

The report said that in April the large-scale potash mining firm Potash Corp., a Canadian company, noted that strong demand would continue for the rest of 2017. Chinese demand for the fertilizer was expected to increase this year.

“I think we’ve seen the turnaround already,” one analyst told the publication. “We expect continued price increases in potash.”

Increased prices for potash may have more to do with Potash Corp. controlling the supply of the nutrient than their being a reflection of improved revenues for farmers; however, the article also said that North American farmers were using a lot of potash now due to their desire to replenish the soil after a record harvest last season.

Although most potash that is shipped overseas is transported via ports on the West Coast, some of it is shipped out of Thunder Bay, Ontario to destinations in Europe.

According to a June 1 report from the Thunder Bay Port Authority, cargo volumes in the Port of Thunder Bay were strong in May, bolstered by significant grain shipments and decade-high potash volumes. Outbound potash shipments came to 134,000 metric tons in May, the highest monthly volume for the port since April 2007, the report said.

 

The Port of Thunder Bay is the only potash loading point on the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Seaway System.

The majority of potash shipments in May were direct-export to international ports in Brazil and Europe. “In the second quarter, we continued to benefit from stronger potash market conditions and our improved cost position in this nutrient,” said Potash Corp. President and CEO Jochen Tilk in a statement on July 27.

“Robust potash demand – especially in offshore markets, where Canpotex achieved its second highest firsthalf shipment total – supported a constructive market and is expected to carry through the remainder of the year. We anticipate more subdued nitrogen and phosphate markets in the second half to offset strength in potash and, as a result, have maintained our full-year earnings guidance range.”

Canpotex is a consortium that handles Potash Corp.’s overseas sales. Potash Corp. also sells nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer products. The company reported earnings of 42 cents per share for the first half of the year; that compares to reported earnings of 23 cents per share for the first half of 2016.

The company statement added that global potash markets continued to improve through the second quarter as “agronomic need and affordability supported demand, especially offshore and contributed to modestly higher prices.

“In North America, a good spring application season led to healthy shipment levels, although below the particularly robust second quarter of 2016” and reduced inventory throughout the supply chain.