Uralkali and CIC – will China call the shots? | beyondbrics

Uralkali and CIC – will China call the shots? | beyondbrics:

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The great potash saga rumbles on. With Uralkali‘s chief executive in a Belarusian KGB cell, the global potash market paralysed by uncertainty and Belarus’s state coffers in jeopardy, China has thrown itself into the mix with a surprise decision by CIC, a Chinese sovereign wealth fund, to take a 12.5 per cent stake in the Russian miner.

On the face of it, the deal should bring the saga closer to conclusion. But don’t expect the paralysis to be lifted any time soon.

For a full recap, read Courtney Weaver’s excellent retelling of the yarn. Briefly, the normally sedate market for potash – used as fertiliser around the world – blew up in July when Uralkali and Belaruskali, the Russian and Belarusian miners, fell out and their cartel, known as BPC, fell apart. (BPC traditionally shares about 70 per cent of the global market with Canpotex, a Canadian cartel of three miners.)"

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