Hints and tips:
...Weak currencies may encourage state producers such as Uralkali to lift production....
...Possible Belaruskali and Uralkali reunion One leading factor behind tougher competition in the potash sector has been the break-up in 2013 of the original BPC, formed between Uralkali and Belaruskali....
...“[A price of] $150 was their first proposal, which was rejected by Uralkali,” says Vladislav Lyan, head of Uralkali’s trading arm....
...China had been haggling for a low-ball price, with the country’s buyers starting negotiations at $150 a tonne earlier this year, according to executives at Uralkali....
...However, supplier “discipline” started to break down in 2013 after high prices led to weak demand in China and India, culminating in Uralkali breaking away from BPC....
...In the face of Belaruskali’s unexpected move, Uralkali said it had little choice but to follow suit....
...Uralkali, the Russian group, helped to bring some relief by telling investors at its recent capital markets day that it would cut production in the second half of the year now that it had regained market...
...Belarus, which relies on Belaruskali for 20 per cent of its annual budget, responded by arresting Uralkali’s chief executive in Minsk....
...Uralkali simultaneously abandoned its ‘price over volume’ strategy....
...The change in ownership and Mr Baumgertner’s detention followed Uralkali’s decision to withdraw from Belarus Potash Corporation, an export cartel representing Uralkali and Belaruskali, in July....
...With an eye to renegotiating the deal between Uralkali and Belaruskali, which was in effect from 2010 to 2013, Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus’s president, has attempted to pressure Suleiman Kerimov, Uralkali...
...A person close to Uralkali said Mr Lukashenko had one big demand for Mr Baumgertner’s release: the resumption of a cartel with Uralkali in which Belarus would call the shots....
...Many analysts expect Belaruskali and Uralkali to patch up their differences and get back together....
...Uralkali said Mr Baumgertner had been invited to Minsk by premier Mikhail Myasnikovich, along with Alexander Voloshin, Uralkali’s chairman, and Suleiman Kerimov, the billionaire who is the company’s leading...
...Uralkali’s boss is still behind bars in Belarus....
...Uralkali and Belaruskali previously planned to set up Soyuzkali to take the place of both BPC and Uralkali’s own, existing Swiss-registered trading arm, Uralkali Trading....
...This is in contrast to Uralkali, which can rely on its Switzerland-based trade arm Uralkali Trading....
...All eyes are on Canpotex and its members, and their response to the Uralkali announcement. They are taking a “wait and see” approach....
...In July, Russian fertiliser giant Uralkali pulled out of an export cartel with Belaruskali, a Belarusian producer. Prices for potash – a vital Belarusian export – plunged....
...Uralkali and Belaruskali export 16-17m tonnes of potash-based fertilizers annually, close to one-third of current global consumption....
...The industry consolidated further this year with the merger of Russia’s two biggest producers, UralKali and Silvinit....
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