Canpotex Ltd., the export arm of North America’s largest potash producers, has no spare supply to sell to India this quarter and won’t resume negotiations with Indian buyers until “late” in the period, said Mosaic Co. (MOS) Chief Executive Officer Jim Prokopanko.
Canpotex’s “cupboard is bare,” Prokopanko said yesterday in a telephone interview from Mosaic headquarters in Plymouth, Minnesota. “There’s nothing to talk about until we have a better assessment of what’s going to be available.”
Talks between Canpotex and Indian importers ended in late June when Canpotex agreed to deliver 630,000 metric tons to China in the second half, Prokopanko said.
The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd., a group representing 55 million farmers, said in May it might halt purchases of the crop nutrient unless Canpotex and other suppliers agreed to a 10 percent discount from the spot price and other conditions. Canpotex is the marketing arm of North America’s three largest producers: Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., Mosaic and Agrium Inc. (AGU)