July 30, 2012
Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers to buy potash mine in Canada
Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers Ltd. (RCF), a state-owned fertilisers production firm from India, will be acquiring a potash mine in Canada to secure supplies of potash to counter farmers from rising costs when potash is deficient during the annual monsoon.
Potash, a form of potassium, is used by the farmers as fertiliser in crops including wheat, rice and sugarcane to strengthen roots and resist drought.
India and China, the two most populous countries in the world, need to boost supplies of potash to ensure food security. The growing demand of potash pushed it price to US$505 a tonne from US$445 a tonne a year ago.
India import of potash is reduced to 6.3 million tonnes from 3.9 million tonnes in the year ending March, 2012, from a year earlier.