In the past year many have discovered that the farming stocks, be they those who grow the crops or
the companies who manufacture the seed or even those who supply the fertilizers, have been nothing
but stellar, to say the least. Deere (DE) nearly doubled last year, with Monsanto nearly tripling, and
Archer Daniel Midland up roughly 50%. As impressive as these gains were, the most spectacular were
found in the fertilizer industry, particularly those stocks involved in the process of mining potash. Among
the larger companies who have exposure to potash:
-Agrium Inc. was up roughly 130% last year moving from $30 to $70 per share. The company is a
diversified fertilizer company with about 15% of their revenues derived from potash.
-The Mosaic Co. saw its price appreciate from $20 to $95 last year providing a return of roughly 375%.
Potash makes up nearly 25% of their revenues. The company's potash production capabilities are
second-largest in the world.
-Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc. was another stellar performer. Its stock rose from $44 to $150 in
2007 giving its investors an annual return of about 240%. POT is the largest potash producer and is
regarded as the Saudi Arabia of potash, much like Cameco is in the uranium sector.
Many of the junior potash explorers, none of which are in production at the time, provided investors
with amazing returns last year. There are not many of them out there, but three which are traded in
Canada are Anglo Minerals Ltd. (ALM.v), Athabasca Potash (API.to) and Potash One (KCL.v). All three
companies have land positions in the province of Saskatchewan and these lands border on the lands
where the big boys have their mines set up.
A new potash mine has not been built in Canada in nearly 30 years, which is probably a result of a
past law where the government could nationalize the industry if it so chose. This law has since been
repealed (recently I must add), and should provide investors with more companies to invest their money
in the not too distant future.
Archives
Bright Future for Potash
Friday, January 11, 2008
Welcome to our new Potash section at theinvestar.com. We hope to provide investors interested in
potash with the same services we have provided uranium investors with for over two years: a site with
daily news updated each morning, periodic articles such as the one found below, and other tools
necessary to invest successfully. We hope to become investors' destination for all things potash in the
year ahead.
