Canpotex Shelves Plans for New Export Potash Terminal
June 17 2016 - 3:50PM
Dow Jones News
TORONTO—Canpotex Ltd. shelved plans to build a new export potash
terminal at the Port of Prince Rupert in British Columbia, after
the potash trader determined there isn't enough demand to move
forward.
"This decision was made after careful deliberation of Canpotex's
current and anticipated terminal capacity needs, and the options we
have to meet those needs," said Ken Seitz, Canpotex's president and
CEO.
Canpotex is jointly owned by North America's three biggest
potash miners—Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, Mosaic Co. and Agrium
Inc.— and sells and distributes their potash, a key fertilizer
ingredient, abroad.
Depressed prices for the crop nutrient amid a glut of supply in
recent years have hurt producers.
In 2014, Canpotex signed a lease agreement with the Prince
Rupert Port Authority to spend 775 million Canadian dollars ($601
million) to build a new potash terminal on Ridley Island. The
terminal's original plans included a potash storage building with
conveyor and dust-collection systems and a marine wharf capable of
handling vessels with a dead weight capacity of 180,000 metric
tons.
The new terminal was aimed at boosting Canpotex's export
capacity while serving Chinese buyers more quickly than other
facilities along the West Coast.
Despite Canpotex's decision to end its agreement with Prince
Rupert, the port has several other expansion initiatives under
way.
DP World, the Dubai-based ports operator, announced plans to
study a further expansion at Prince Rupert's Fairview container
terminal to increase its annual handling capacity to 2 million
20-foot containers, or TEUs, from about 1.35 million.
Calgary-based AltaGas Ltd. announced it January it plans to
build a natural-gas export facility on Ridley Island near Prince
Rupert capable of shipping up to 1.2 million tons of propane a
year.
Write to David George-Cosh at david.george-cosh@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 17, 2016 16:35 ET (20:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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