Nutrien is a Canadian
fertilizer company based in
Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan. It is the largest producer of
potash and the third largest producer of
nitrogen fertilizer in the world.
It has over 2,000 retail locations across North America, South America, and Australia with more than 23,500 employees.
It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (symbol ) and New York Stock Exchange (symbol ), with a market capitalization of $34 billion as of January 2018.
It was formed through the merger of
PotashCorp and
Agrium
Agrium was a major retail supplier of agricultural products and services in North America, South America and Australia and a wholesale producer and marketer of all three major agricultural nutrients and a supplier of specialty fertilizers in Nor ...
, in a transaction that closed on January 1, 2018.
History
Merger
PotashCorp and Agrium first proposed merging in September 2016. The merger was suggested in the context of low fertilizer prices, leading to the hope that a larger company will be better able to increase prices.
The new company also hopes to reduce costs through consolidation; it estimates that it will be able to decrease costs by $500 million USD.
The transaction was originally expected to close in mid-2017, but was delayed to January 2018 because of regulatory hurdles; final regulatory approval from the
United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was only received in December 2017. Based on the terms of the merger, former PotashCorp shareholders were given 52% of Nutrien, while Agrium shareholders were given 48%.
Agrium CEO
Charles Magro became CEO of the new company, while PotashCorp CEO Jochen Tilk became Executive Chair.
Nutrien is based in Saskatoon, the former headquarters of PotashCorp, but it will maintain corporate offices in
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
, the former headquarters of Agrium.
In May 2018, Nutrien announced it would sell to
Tianqi Lithium a 24% stake in the Chilean mining company
Sociedad Química y Minera (SQM) for approximately $4.1 billion.
Tianqi was to purchase 62.5 million SQM A shares for $65 each. Nutrien needed to satisfy the Chinese and Indian regulators because of concerns it would corner the potash market.
[https://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20190227/pdf/4430v0cv3wwr8q.pdf (ASX announcement)] The acquisition was finalized on October 1, 2019, after which Ruralco was delisted from the ASX.[https://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20191001/pdf/4492ps2s1b8sfg.pdf (ASX announcement)] After this acquisition, Nutrien now supplies 650 rural merchandise stores in Australia, or approximately 45% of all rural merchandise stores in Australia.[https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/concerns-about-landmark%E2%80%99s-proposed-acquisition-of-ruralco ACCC announcement]
In July 2022, Nutrien announced that it would acquire Brazilian retail fertilizer company Casa do Adubo, increasing its expansion in Latin America.
Competition
Nutrien's main competitors include other potash, phosphate and nitrogen producers, such as The Mosaic Company, Yara International ASA, CF Industries Holdings Inc and K+S AG.
Carbon footprint
Nutrien reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 13,160 Kt (-220 /-1.6% y-o-y).[Alt URL]
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References
External links
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Companies based in Saskatoon
Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange
Fertilizer companies of Canada
Mining companies of Canada
Canadian brands
Canadian companies established in 2018
2018 establishments in Saskatchewan
Chemical companies established in 2018