PotashCorp shares jump 5% on Credit Suisse upgrade

05 January 2010 21:51  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Shares of Canada’s Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PotashCorp) jumped more than 5% in late afternoon trading on Tuesday at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) following an upgrade by a Credit Suisse analyst.

Credit Suisse analyst Elaine Yip noted that China’s 23 December settlement of a new potash contract at $350/ton (€241.50/ton) with Belarusian Potash Corporation set a highly-anticipated floor for the potash fertilizer market.

“With the Chinese contracts finally settling, we believe investors have a solid entry point to buy into the industry’s solid long-term fundamentals,” Yip said.

Credit Suisse upgraded PotashCorp to outperform from neutral.

Intrepid Potash was upgraded to neutral from underperform, and Mosaic was maintained at neutral.

“Our top pick among the North American potash names is PotashCorp, which we believe offers a compelling risk/reward profile owing to its significant leverage to the industry, an aggressive capacity expansion plan and an attractive valuation,” Yip said.

PotashCorp did not immediately return calls for comment.

On Monday (4 January), PotashCorp posted a price for potash of $390/ton for its North American customers.

($1 = €0.69)

For more on fertilizers visit ICIS pricing fertilizers

To discuss issues facing the chemical industry go to ICIS connect

By: Frank Zaworski
+1 713 525 2653

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly