Reuters: Hot Stocks: Sirius Minerals says remains optimistic about UK potash project

Reuters: Hot Stocks Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Sirius Minerals says remains optimistic about UK potash project Aug 6th 2013, 17:15 Tue Aug 6, 2013 1:15pm EDT Aug 6 (Reuters) - Sirius Minerals Plc said any weakness in potash prices would be a short-term phenomenon and that it remained optimistic about its $1.7 billion potash project in North Yorkshire. Russia's Uralkali, the world's largest potash miner by output, shocked the potash industry last week when it forecast a decline of more than 25 percent in potash prices to below $300 per tonne. Sirius's stock fell as much as 32 percent on Tuesday after it was downgraded by to "underperform" from "buy" by brokerage Jefferies, which cited funding hurdles, project approval delays and weak global potash prices. Sirius plans to mine polyhalite - a form of potash - in an area that includes part of the North York Moors National Park. "Should the potash price fall from $400 to $300/t, as predicted by Uralkali, the price Sirius will realise for its unique polyhalite product is likely to fall below management's target of $150/t," analyst Seth Rosenfeld said in a note. However, Sirius said a drop in prices would be of more concern to miners that have high operating costs, adding that Uralkali's views were more relevant for producers of potassium chloride, or muriate of potash (MOP). The company said demand for its product would be driven by the fact that polyhalite contained sulphur, magnesium and calcium as well as potassium, and did not contain chloride. This, it said, provided a "value buffer" over the MOP price. Sirius's project, which has divided the local community, is awaiting approval from local authorities. Sirius also announced on Tuesday that its brokerage contract with Jefferies Hoare Govett had been terminated effective Aug. 26 at the end of a three-month notice period. The company's shares were down 9 percent at 14 pence at 1710 GMT on the London Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Karen Rebelo in Bangalore; Editing by Ted Kerr) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions