TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Global grain production needs to climb by over 5% this year to meet projected demand, boosting fertiliser demand and prices, Potash Corp of Saskatchewan said.

“Historically, production has increased by approximately 2% a year, therefore, we see potential for further tightening in global grain markets,” the company said in its quarterly Market Analysis Report, posted to its website on Wednesday.

The world’s biggest producer of potash, the crop nutrient, said it expected demand to rise to as much as 60-million tons in 2011 from 52-million tons last year.

“This is expected to challenge the industry’s operational capability, estimated at 61-million tonnes,” Potash Corp said.

BHP Billiton last year failed in its bid to buy the TSX-listed company after Canada’s government said it would block the deal, arguing that it would not be of net benefit to the country.
 

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