A “significant rebound” in North American farmers’ demand for fertilizer has pared down the first-quarter net loss for Canadian fertilizer and ag retail firm Agrium compared to the same time last year.
The Calgary company on Wednesday posted a net loss of $7 million (all figures US$) on $1.848 billion in sales for its first quarter (Q1) ending March 31, up from a $60 million net loss on $1.795 billion in sales in the year-earlier period.
CEO Mike Wilson credited the “significant rebound in North American and international nutrient demand” for strong results in Agrium’s wholesale business.
Read Also
Field-by-field mapping could improve yield, productivity predictions
University of Saskatchewan researchers are using field border mapping to collect data on field variability, including problematic weeds, and to predict things like yields.
“Activity in our retail operations focused on positioning us to benefit from a very strong spring season for crop inputs,” he said Wednesday in the company’s release.
“An unusually cold and wet March held U.S. growers back from fieldwork in the first quarter; however, the weather in April has been excellent and growers responded quickly by applying significant levels of crop inputs and making rapid progress in seeding the 2010 crop.”
Market fundamentals for crop nutrients, and for agriculture generally, “continue to be robust,” he said. “This year’s significant increase in acreage devoted to input intensive crops such as corn and cotton will benefit all three of our business units,” including wholesale, retail and what Agrium calls “advanced technologies.”
“Furthermore, we believe industry fundamentals will remain strong in both the short and medium-term.”
Agrium’s Q1 crop nutrient sales volumes “were above last year’s levels, (but) were below anticipated volumes due to the late start of the 2010 spring application season,” the company said.
Crop protection net sales were up eight per cent in Q1 at $462 million in the first quarter of 2010, while Q1 net sales of seed were up about 29 per cent at $191 million. Lower gross profit in seed was due to “pricing pressure on seed products and the timing of rebate programs,” Agrium said.
Agrium’s wholesale fertilizer unit posted Q1-record net sales of $789 million, up 14 per cent from the year-earlier period. Q1 gross profit for potash alone was $106 million, five times greater than the $21 million in Q1 of 2009, the company said.
