Nevertheless, Doyle said, "We remained fully committed to our strategy of matching our potash production to market demand, which meant running 30% of our operational capability in 2009. In an environment of reduced demand, we chose to preserve our assets, confident this approach will be rewarded."

"The gridlock that had tied up our industry much of 2009 clearly began to lift in the fourth quarter," he explained. "We expect this year will mark the transition between the historically low levels of 2009 and return to trend line demand in 2011."

PotashCorp expects Indian buyers to resume potash imports under a new contract in the first half of this year, purchasing 5.5 million to 6.5 million tonnes from international producers. With the support of farmer economics and depleted inventory, PotashCorp expects Brazil to import 5.5 million to 6.5 million tonnes of potash depending on economic conditions while Southeast Asia is expected to need 4 million to 5 million tonnes.

Potash consumption is also expected to rebound in China this year as PotashCorp expects China to consume about 8 million to 9 million tonnes of potash, including 4.5 million to 5 million tonnes of imports.

Doyle told analysts "our issues with China are short-term because China is going to need us and we're going to need them and when you have 75% of your potash, demand is going to come from imports over the year. That number's going to go from 10 million tonnes to 26 million tonnes... They're going to need Canadian Potash. There's just no doubt about that..."

And

Is a big potash play in the offing? - This article by Barry Sergeant for Mineweb.com may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section:

There are hundreds of phosphate mines around the world, but only a handful of potash miners, of which all but one, Belaruskali, are listed. Also on the fertiliser hunt is Vale, the world's No 2 miner, by value, after BHP Billiton, which this week announced an all-cash USD 3.8bn bid for 100% of BPI, a division of Bunge, which owns phosphate rock mines and phosphates assets in Brazil, and a 54% stake in Brazil's Fosfertil.

Vale has long ranked as Brazil's sole potash miner, at Rosario do Catete. In early 2009 Vale bought Rio Tinto's potash assets in Argentina and Canada, for USD 850m. For its part, BHP Billiton in May 2008 bought for USD 282m Anglo Potash, which held 25% of a Canadian joint venture company, in which BHP Billiton already held the other 75%. The Jensen project is adjacent to the Burr Project, now under acquisition from Athabasca Potash.

While Rio Tinto described the Potasio Rio Colorado potash deposit in Argentina (now owned by Vale) as "the largest potash discovery in South America", it is well known that the two biggest potash fields in the world are found in Saskatchewan, and in a field that runs across the Russian border into Belarus.

Rio Tinto's other sale to Vale was of its Regina potash property in Saskatchewan. BHP Billiton CEO Marius Kloppers has repeatedly made it clear that his group only looks to acquire Tier I global assets, and reminds that such assets rarely come onto the market.

Eoin Treacy's view Fertiliser companies have been a relatively unloved sector since food commodity prices fell from their 2008 peaks and are unlikely to attract a great deal of investor interest until grain prices can sustain a breakout from their more than yearlong bases.

However, the fact remains that potash mining is a highly profitable enterprise dominated by a small number of companies and some of the largest miners in the world are expressing a desire to gain entry to the market. Since Potash Corp can return such a high profit relative to its production in 2009 the opinions of potential acquirers that this is a sector worth the trouble of getting involved in will be bolstered