Potash Corp. Of Saskatchewan - W/O Record Harvests Every Year, We Will Not Meet Food Demand - B-Berg

[hatrack]

Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Grain farmers will need to harvest record crops every year to meet increasing global food demand and avoid famine, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. Chief Executive Officer William Doyle said.

People and livestock are consuming more grain than ever, draining world inventories and increasing the likelihood of shortages, Doyle said yesterday in an interview on Bloomberg Television. Global grain stockpiles fell to about 53 days of supply last year, the lowest level since record-keeping began in 1960, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

``If you had any major upset where you didn't have a crop in a major growing agricultural region this year, I believe you'd see famine,'' Doyle, 57, said in New York.

Potash, the world's largest maker of crop nutrients, has more than doubled in market value in the past year as record crop prices allowed farmers to spend more on fertilizer to boost yields. The company has more than doubled net income in the past two years to $1.1 billion and expects gross profit from potash to expand to $8 billion within five years from $912 million in 2007. Potash is a form of potassium that helps plants grow.

EDIT

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGcGIiIwHQ1g&refer=home

[GliderGuider]

1. Based on my recent analysis of Africa, this has me shit-scared.

The CEO of one of the world's largest fertilizer companies is talking in public about global famine????

Holy mud-cookies, Batman!

[phantom power]

2. “Trust me, if I see someone eating those cookies, I will discourage it.”

Laugh, cry or scream? How to choose?

[Dead_Parrot]

7. Personally, I'd look for the recipie

Might be useful.

[hogwyld]

3. Of course, the poor pawns of the world

will be the first to go, while the rich have plenty to eat. I really get so depressed when I come here and real all of this peak oil, global warming, worldwide famine stuff.

[GliderGuider]

4. To be serious for a moment,

If you're getting depressed, then do your best to avoid exposure to the bad news. Trust me, I know how debilitating this awareness is. The problem that I (and I suspect some others around here) have is that once you have this awareness it's impossible to shut it off. It's a really nasty mental virus, and can eat holes in your brain and your spirit if you let it.

I find the depression is triggered by too much exposure to negative information, so you can at least control that aspect of "TEOTWAWKI syndrome" by not reading the bad news. You could even start by putting me on ignore, because I appear to be a carrier.

[Tashca]

5. Powerful player in food production

PCS has quietly bought up a large majority of the current Potash production in the world. I heard but can't verify they control somewhere in the neighborhood of 75%-80% of all current production. The main area in the world that could possibly compete with them is Russia. Right now their infrastructure is in shambles.....as far as Potash mining anyway. So they are of course controlling price. This spring price of Potash products looks like it's going to double from last fall.....and nearly triple from last spring.
I keep trying to get my mind around what is going on.....I'm not able to do it.
It seems like every week we are hearing a new record price for a grain commodity....whether it is Wheat, soybeans, Corn, or another.
I know the collapsing dollar has some impact on this, but not all. Inventories are low and southern hemisphere production hasn't been great.

Nitrogen products (ammonia) might be $1000.00/Ton this spring. It was $500.00 last fall and considerably lower last spring. Phosphorous (MAP) has jumped from $450.00 last fall to maybe %900.00 this spring...again much lower last spring.
Monsanto has raised the price of Roundup @ 60% in the last 45 days.

The companies mentioned in this article are all the major players in these input price increases...
I have never seen anything like what has happened in the last few months...

Is this price manipulation by a few huge players or is it real??....I almost hope it isn't real???....the implications don't bode well for many parts of the world....

[Dead_Parrot]

6. It is interesting...

...that when faced with rising costs (be it gasoline, fertiliser or eggs) people's normal reaction is to blame the companies ("Big Oil", "Big Chem" and presumably "Big Chicken"), then the failing dollar, then competition from the Chinese (or whomever).

The notion that maybe we're just running out of stuff is usually way down the list.

And you're right - the implications are less than pleasant.