Agrium Updates 4th Quarter Outlook.Business Editors CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 30, 2001 ALL AMOUNTS ARE STATED IN U.S.$ Agrium Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : AGU AGU Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan AGU American Geophysical Union AGU Arabian Gulf University (Bahrain) AGU All Grown Up (TV show) AGU Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes, Mexico ) (TSE See Tokyo Stock Exchange. TSE 1. See Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). 2. See Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE). : AGU.) ("Agrium") announced today that it expects lower fourth quarter earnings than the current First Call consensus estimate of a loss of $0.04 per common share. The Company expects a fourth quarter net loss of approximately $0.30 per common share on a diluted basis reflecting the continuation of extremely weak pricing for both nitrogen and phosphate from the third quarter. International pricing remained depressed for nitrogen, particularly ammonia, as weak industrial demand following the recent world economic downturn prevented the anticipated improvement in pricing. Dry fall conditions in Western Canada
Western Canada, commonly referred to as the West and the Pacific Northwest, along with industry inventory overhang Overhang Calculated as stock options granted, plus the remaining options to still be granted, and then divided by the total shares outstanding. Notes: A high percentage for the overhang is usually a bad thing. in nitrogen, as a result of the poor spring season, negatively impacted prices and volumes for nitrogen and phosphate. In 2002, Agrium expects lower nitrogen production costs as a result of lower natural gas costs. Based on forward gas prices, Agrium expects its average gas cost for 2002 to be approximately $2.40 per MMBtu, a reduction from the $2.52 per MMBtu average for 2001. The 2002 forecast includes the negative effect of our 2002 natural gas hedging program which is expected to add an average of $0.54 per MMBtu to our North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. gas requirements of approximately 240,000 MMBtu per day. In addition, Agrium's expects its Alberta power costs to be lower by $30.00 per MWh for 2002, a forecasted reduction of $16-million in production costs. The outlook for 2002 has improved over the last week with the announcement that China purchased significant volumes of nitrogen on world markets for delivery in December 2001 and January 2002. China, once the world's largest importer of nitrogen, had been largely absent from the world nitrogen market since 1997. To the extent this represents a return by China to the nitrogen import market, the Company expects this to be a positive contributor to the tightening in global supply and demand and a recovery in nitrogen prices. Agrium Inc. is a leading global producer and marketer of fertilizer and a major retail supplier of agricultural products and services in both North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. and Argentina. The Corporation produces and markets four primary groups of fertilizers: nitrogen, phosphate, potash potash: see potassium carbonate. potash Name used for various inorganic compounds of potassium, chiefly the carbonate (K2CO3), a white crystalline material formerly obtained from wood ashes. and sulphur. The Corporation's strategy is to grow through incremental expansion of its existing operations and acquisitions as well as the development, commercialization and marketing of new products and international opportunities. |
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