By Rod Nickel
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) – Fertilizer producer Mosaic Co said on Tuesday that it has temporarily curtailed potash production at its Colonsay, Saskatchewan, mine in Canada, citing slower-than-expected demand.
Mosaic said in a statement that its inventories are adequate to meet demand in the short term. The company had restarted Colonsay in August 2021 after idling it for two years.
Potash prices spiked this year due to sanctions against Russia and Belarus, the world’s second- and third-biggest producers after Canada.
Prices have since declined, however.
Mosaic’s decision to curtail production is short-term and longer-term fundamentals look positive, said Chief Executive Joc O’Rourke. The Florida-based company expects to restart both of Colonsay’s mills in early 2023.
Colonsay was producing at a rate of 1.3 million tonnes annually, and plans an expansion to raise output to between 1.8 million and 2 million tonnes by late next year.
Rival Nutrien Ltd is carrying out a potash expansion of its own in Saskatchewan.
(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Sandra Maler)