ICIS, the world’s largest market information provider in the petrochemical, energy and fertilizer space has observed continued uncertainty in the prices of potash amongst market participants post the arrest of the CEO of Uralkali – Vladislav Baumgertner in Belarus on 26th August, 2013.
ICIS published a market insight article in early September, reviewing the recent developments leading to the arrest of the CEO of Uralkali on charges of abuse of power. ICIS views this as negative news for the potash market, which has been under pressure because of the general lack of demand since Uralkali decided to discontinue its offshore potash sales via Belarusian Potash Co (BPC).
Potash prices have tumbled by 15-20% in some markets such as South East Asia and Latin America since the breakup of the cartel. Producers are seen preparing themselves for a few tough years ahead, with high-cost producers likely to see a significant hit to their bottom lines due to prices softening.