EuroChem Open to Selling Potash With Rival Uralkali

Reuters reported that Russia’s EuroChem is open to selling potash with its rival Uralkali (LSE:URALL) after completing construction on its two mines, however a senior executive of the company said it is still too early to purse the partnership.

As quoted in the market news:

EuroChem, which has revenues of $5 billion, expects to complete construction of its Volgakaliy and Usolskiy mines in Russia’s Volgograd and Perm regions respectively by late 2017.

“Everything is possible but we haven’t had any discussions, even internally,” Chief Financial Officer Andrey Ilyin said at a BMO investor conference in New York.

Ilyin said EuroChem may produce 1 million tonnes of potash in 2018, climbing to 5 million by 2020.

By 2023, when EuroChem expects to have reached capacity of 8.3 million tonnes, much may have changed in the potash sector, Ilyin said. Two years ago, Uralkali and Belaruskali severed their own arrangement to market potash together through Belarusian Potash Company (BPC), causing prices to crash.

If EuroChem reaches its goal of becoming the world’s lowest-cost potash producer, selling the fertilizer with another player may make less sense, Ilyin said.

Click here to read the full Reuters report.