Revenue plunged in the third quarter

Date：2017-09-20

       Canada's Agrium reported net income of $41 million in the third quarter, down significantly from $101 million a year earlier. Lower income and lower fertilizer prices this year have to do with the one-time cost of the company's merger with potashcorp.

       In the third quarter, the company said, North America had a negative impact on corporate earnings because of the delay in crop harvesting and the lesser effects of crop pests in the United States. In this growing season, the demand for plants to protect their plants is limited.

       In the third quarter, gross profit margins fell 55 per cent from a year earlier to $59 million, as the benchmark price of nitrogen fertilizer fell significantly, he said. While both fixed costs and input costs are kept at a low level, it can only partially offset the decline in the yield of nitrogen fertilizer. Calgary's sales of nitrogen fertilizer fell from 760,000 tonnes to 739,000 tonnes in the third quarter, due to the delayed supply of synthetic ammonia and the suspension of Redwater and Carseland equipment.

       The company's potash sales in the third quarter rose to 49.60 tonnes, up 29 per cent from the third quarter of 2015. Potash prices fell from $279 a tonne in the same period last year to $178 a tonne. The increase in sales partly offset lower potash prices. The company increased its international sales by 26% in 2016, thanks to a more efficient allocation of potashcorp.

       In the third quarter, the price of phosphate sales fell from $514 to $478 / ton, and the sales volume increased from 26.9 million tons in the same period in 2015 to 27.80 million tons, with gross interest rate down 65 percent year on year.