REUTERS —Mosaic Co. posted a lower fourth-quarter profit late last month as declining fertilizer prices dented margins and said it will curtail potash production at its mine near Colonsay, Sask.
The company said potash prices plunged to $243 per tonne in the October-December quarter from $581 per tonne a year earlier, when prices soared due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
The selling price for phosphate also fell about 24 percent to $552 per tonne in the fourth quarter, and sales volumes remained flat.
Fertilizer prices continued their decline during the reported quarter, pressured by higher supplies as exports from top suppliers Belarus and Russia resumed, while the cost of key input materials such as natural gas fell.
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The U.S. phosphate maker expects capital expenditures of $1.2 billion in 2024. The firm expects phosphate prices to be $580 to $605 per tonne in the first quarter of 2024.
CF Industries and Danish peer Yara International ASA both posted lower quarterly incomes, weighed down by lower prices and demand for fertilizers.
Mosaic, based in Tampa, Florida, said it earned $365 million, or $1.11 per share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $523 million, or $1.52 per share, a year earlier.
