Production to be cut at two PotashCorp mines in Saskatchewan

Suspension expected to start March 20

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

PotashCorp is scheduled to reduce production at its mines in Allan and Lanigan, Saskatchewan for about a month, beginning March 20.

“We are opting to achieve these curtailments through the use of maintenance shutdowns, which do not require temporary workforce layoffs,” the company said in a press release. “We estimate the curtailments will reduce our 2016 production by approximately 400,000 tons.”

One of the reasons for the reduction in production is a weaker global fertilizer market. Fertilizer has fallen from about $900 per ton in 2008 to less than $300 per ton.

This isn’t the first time PotashCorp has suspended production at some of its facilities.

In January, the company indefinitely closed its mine in Picadilly, New Brunswick. The closure resulted in about 430 jobs being lost.

In 2015, the Allan, Lanigan and Cory mines were shut down and expedited the closure of its mine in Penobsquis, near Sussex, New Brunswick.

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