Colleen Scherer, Managing Editor, Ag Professional  |   January 26, 2012

Following in the footsteps of fertilizer giants PotashCorp and Mosaic, OAO Uralkali announced it would be cutting its potash production. OAO Uralkali is Russia’s largest fertilizer producer, and the announcement comes as global potash prices have sagged in recent weeks.

“Uralkali pared its 2012 production target by about 8 percent to between 10.5 million metric tons and 10.8 million tons to bolster prices,” said Victor Belyakov, chief financial officer, OAO Uralkali. “Uralkali, which had record 2011 output of 10.8 million tons, forecasts global demand for fertilizers to be similar to last year’s 58 million tons.”

New York-based analyst Mark Connelly with Credit Agricole Securities USA Inc. told Bloomberg Uralkali and other potash producers were cutting production to protect a 45 percent recovery in benchmark U.S. Midwest potash prices since July 201.

Also this week, PotashCorp announced it was going to halt production at its Allan mine and it shutdown its Rocanville operation. Combined, PotashCorp’s cuts total about 1 million tons, Connelly said.

Uralkali’s cuts represent an 8 percent reduction in its 2012 production target. The company had record 2011 output at 10.8 million tons.

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