11:51 POT Potash conf call summary: Goldman’s Sachs Ag Biotech Forum (88.08 -1.02)
Co says they think the prices of phosphate have bottomed... Co says their earnings story is based on potash and notes that 62% of gross margins came from potash last year. Over the next seven years, the co says they are looking to double potash volume and as they do this as volumes increase, taxes will come down on incremental volume. POT says the supply/demand picture is a lot tighter in potash compared to the other two nutrients. Co says there is less competition in potash and notes that building a Greenfield mine takes between 7-10 years. POT says that we have good grain prices and they expect that to continue and says that although variable margins for the farmer hit a record in 2007, they will still remain high... Co says potash fertilizer is in a catch-up phase after being under-used in many growing economies versus nitrogen... On pricing, co says they did sign six months contracts with Japan and Korea, which were contracted at potash prices that were $200/ton higher ON total capacity, co says they are working to get up to 18 mln tons of capacity in potash. In phosphate, the co says they industrial margins growth in this segment will be independent of what happens in the phosphate business. Co says if there is any fertilizer that could really provide a surprising upside, it's in nitrogen.
Lightning over Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica:
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