Fertilizer

[Zaphod]

It's important to remember that we use relatively little potash in western Canada. Most of it gets exported. It's nitrogen and phos supplies we need to be most worried about.

[Zaphod]

I think the biggest concern here is for those who own POT or MOS shares.

[ado089]

I think this is a prime example of what catering to shareholders instead of customers does to your long term viability as a company. Not a single tonne of that potash will stay in north america. What it will do though is take 3 mmt/yr of demmand out of the system and likely send a message to the other players in the fert/ag world that free enterprize functions perfectly well and if you make too much money someone else will notice and try to make slightly less until there is a balance between profit and competition. Maybe mr Doyle missed that lesson at buiness school.

[bucket]

BHP is to buy potash corp. Great - another saskatchewan success story to be sold out to foreign interests. The greenfield mines in saskatchewan are going to have to be built sometime. Rather than have bhp buy assets it would be better in the long run to build the greenfield site.

Don't get me wrong - I am not a socialist but I am getting tired of watching Saskatchewan companies that are world leaders give up. If anything it should be the other way around - where Saskatchewan companies are looking for asset values abroad.

[boarderbloke]

potash companies haven't and won't for sometime, develope the "greenfield mines" because they understand something farmers never likely will, that being, the more supply the lower the price.

[furrowtickler]

I have said this for a long time, Potash Corp thought they could hold the "world's" farmers at ransome and that sooner or later it would bite them in the A$$. Much cheaper for China to build their own mine right in our back door than pay an unfounded price for potash. Too much greed will always fail!

[TOM4CWB]

furrow...

All too true!

CWB has found this out... Greed/extraction works for a very short while... then customers bite back like a grizzly!

Transparent markets that are open will always be the most efficient and best for everyone on both sides!