Blaine Pedersen, shown here in 2016, is Manitoba’s new minister for agriculture and resource development. (Manitoba Co-operator photo by Lorraine Stevenson)

Manitoba agriculture merged into new provincial ministry

Manitoba’s provincial agriculture ministry is being merged with its resource development arm under the oversight of the minister responsible for the latter. Premier Brian Pallister on Wednesday announced a reorganization of his government’s ministries along with a shuffle of his cabinet in the wake of his Progressive Conservative government’s re-election last month. The realignment sees

BHP’s Saskatchewan potash mine project is set up north of Jansen, about 60 km southeast of Humboldt. (BHP.com)

BHP sets early 2021 for decision on Jansen potash project

Melbourne | Reuters — BHP Group Ltd., the world’s biggest miner, said on Thursday it will make a final investment decision on its long-delayed $17 billion Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan around February 2021. Investors have been awaiting a decision by BHP on whether to go ahead with project, which would be its most significant


Tower structure at one of Mosaic’s potash mines near Esterhazy, Sask.  (Greg Berg photo)

Mosaic to further curb Saskatchewan potash output

Fertilizer firm Mosaic Co. is dialing back production at another of its potash mines in eastern Saskatchewan as its potash inventories rise. Minnesota-based Mosaic Co. said Thursday it will “temporarily curtail” potash production at its Esterhazy mine, bringing the company’s total production curtailments up to 600,000 tonnes. The added curtailment, the company said, is based


(Dave Bedard photo)

Vale sells fertilizer unit to Mosaic

Brasilia/Sao Paulo | Reuters — Vale SA’s US$2.5 billion sale of its fertilizer business to Mosaic Co., the latest step in the Brazilian iron ore miner’s strategy to reduce debt, also makes it the U.S. company’s biggest shareholder. Mosaic, which made the deal to improve its access to Brazil’s vast agricultural markets, will pay $1.25


Shippers suggest amendments to beef up Fair Rail Freight Service Act

The worst rail service in three years prompted shippers to propose amendments to toughen Bill C-52, the Fair Rail Freight Service Act, to help balance their relationship with the railways, says Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA). “Service is very poor on both railroads,” he said in an interview March

Brazil potash deposit has 18 years of country’s needs

Reuters / A Brazilian fertilizer deposit owned by Canada’s Brazil PotashCorp has potash reserves equal to at least 18 years of Brazil’s potassium-fertilizer needs, a source with direct knowledge of the project told Reuters. The mine project has total potassium reserves of about 500 million tonnes of which at least 125 million, or a quarter,

Brazil’s Vale backs out of Argentine potash deal

sao paulo /reuters Brazilian miner Vale SA said March 11 it is suspending investments in its $6-billion Rio Colorado potash project in Argentina that has been plagued with cost overruns. The company said in a press statement that the project was not “in line with Vale’s commitment to discipline in capital allocation.” Vale had put


Canpotex signs China potash supply deal at discount

Three North American potash producers have struck a six-month agreement to supply the crop nutrient to a subsidiary of China’s Sinofert Holdings Ltd. at a steep discount of US$70 per tonne from the last contract price. Canpotex Ltd., the offshore sales agency for PotashCorp of Saskatchewan, Mosaic Co. and Agrium Inc. — said on Dec.

BHP in no rush to build potash mine

Reuters / BHP Billiton says it won’t decide soon on whether to build the world’s biggest potash mine in Western Canada, a project some say would exacerbate a global glut of the fertilizer. In late August, BHP pushed back to at least June 2013 a decision on building an eight-million-tonne mine at Jansen, Sask., but