PLYMOUTH, Minn., July 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mosaic
Company (NYSE: MOS) today announced that it will idle its
Colonsay, Saskatchewan potash mine
for the remainder of 2016 and halt current turnaround activities.
The move is intended to allow Mosaic to meet customer demand while
adapting to challenging potash market conditions. Approximately 330
employees have received temporary layoff notices as a result of the
idling.
The Colonsay mine's proven
annual production capacity is 2.6 million tonnes. The Company's
lower-cost Esterhazy and
Belle Plaine mines, in combination
with current inventory, will allow Mosaic to meet its short-term
potash supply needs.
"We continue to execute the difficult but necessary actions to
ensure Mosaic will be as competitive as possible across the
business cycle," said President and CEO Joc
O'Rourke. "Lower global potash demand and market prices
require that we curtail production. Idling Colonsay will enable us to meet our customers'
needs while reducing our production costs."
About The Mosaic Company
The Mosaic Company is one of the world's leading producers and
marketers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients.
Mosaic is a single source provider of phosphate and potash
fertilizers and feed ingredients for the global agriculture
industry. More information on the Company is available at
www.mosaicco.com.
This document contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about
the Wa'ad Al Shamal Phosphate Company (also known as MWSPC) and
other proposed or pending future transactions or strategic plans
and other statements about future financial and operating results.
Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations
of The Mosaic Company's management and are subject to significant
risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include but
are not limited to risks and uncertainties arising from the ability
of MWSPC to obtain additional planned funding in acceptable
amounts and upon acceptable terms, the timely development and
commencement of operations of production facilities in the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the
future success of current plans for MWSPC and any future
changes in those plans; difficulties with realization of the
benefits of our long term natural gas based pricing ammonia supply
agreement with CF Industries, Inc., including the risk that the
cost savings initially anticipated from the agreement may not be
fully realized over its term or that the price of natural gas or
ammonia during the term are at levels at which the pricing is
disadvantageous to Mosaic; customer defaults; the effects of
Mosaic's decisions to exit business operations or locations; the
predictability and volatility of, and customer expectations about,
agriculture, fertilizer, raw material, energy and transportation
markets that are subject to competitive and other pressures and
economic and credit market conditions; the level of inventories in
the distribution channels for crop nutrients; the effect of future
product innovations or development of new technologies on demand
for our products; changes in foreign currency and exchange rates;
international trade risks and other risks associated with Mosaic's
international operations and those of joint ventures in which
Mosaic participates, including the risk that protests against
natural resource companies in Peru
extend to or impact the Miski Mayo mine; changes in government
policy; changes in environmental and other governmental regulation,
including expansion of the types and extent of water resources
regulated under federal law, greenhouse gas regulation,
implementation of numeric water quality standards for the discharge
of nutrients into Florida
waterways or efforts to reduce the flow of excess nutrients into
the Mississippi River basin, the Gulf of
Mexico or elsewhere; further developments in judicial or
administrative proceedings, or complaints that Mosaic's operations
are adversely impacting nearby farms, business operations or
properties; difficulties or delays in receiving, increased costs of
or challenges to necessary governmental permits or approvals or
increased financial assurance requirements; resolution of global
tax audit activity; the effectiveness of Mosaic's processes for
managing its strategic priorities; adverse weather conditions
affecting operations in Central
Florida, the Mississippi River basin, the Gulf Coast of
the United States or Canada, and including potential hurricanes,
excess heat, cold, snow, rainfall or drought; actual costs of
various items differing from management's current estimates,
including, among others, asset retirement, environmental
remediation, reclamation or other environmental regulation,
Canadian resources taxes and royalties, or the costs of the MWSPC,
its existing or future funding and Mosaic's commitments in support
of such funding; reduction of Mosaic's available cash and
liquidity, and increased leverage, due to its use of cash and/or
available debt capacity to fund financial assurance requirements
and strategic investments; brine inflows at Mosaic's Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, potash mine or other
potash shaft mines; other accidents and disruptions involving
Mosaic's operations, including potential mine fires, floods,
explosions, seismic events or releases of hazardous or volatile
chemicals; and risks associated with cyber security, including
reputational loss, as well as other risks and uncertainties
reported from time to time in The Mosaic Company's reports filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may
differ from those set forth in the forward-looking
statements.
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SOURCE The Mosaic Company