Mosaic Shares Fall After Early Mine Closure Cuts Potash Output
- Potash production to be pared by 1 million tons in mine shift
- Fertilizer firm to restart another mine to offset lower output
Photographer: James MacDonald/Bloomberg
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Mosaic Co. is shutting two shafts at its flagship potash mine in Canada nine months ahead of schedule, a move that will reduce output just as prices for the key fertilizer ingredient are soaring. Shares fell the most in a month.
Mosaic already planned to close its K1 and K2 shafts at its Esterhazy mine in a shift to a newer mine being built at the Saskatchewan site, but “a recent acceleration of brine inflows” forced their early shutdown, the Tampa, Florida-based fertilizer producer said Friday in a statement. The third Esterhazy mine, K3, will replace the two shafts that have supplied potash to global customers for decades.