Fertilizer stocks will bounce back

Article Excerpt

Fertilizer prices remain volatile, but these two producers have bright long-term outlooks. That’s because the growing population is increasing food demand. Without fertilizer, the world would need 50% more farmland to meet this need. We prefer Agrium over Potash Corp., as its retail stores cut its exposure to bulk fertilizer prices. POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN $33 (Toronto symbol POT; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 863.2 million; Market cap: $28.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.6; Dividend yield: 4.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.potashcorp.com) operates five potash mines in Saskatchewan and one in New Brunswick that account for 20% of global capacity. The company also makes fertilizers from nitrogen and phosphate. Potash Corp. continues to suffer from last July’s breakup of a marketing alliance between producers in Russia and Belarus. The resulting uncertainty has prompted big clients like China and India to delay signing new potash supply deals because they feel prices will keep falling. In the third quarter of 2013, Potash…