Nutrien says tariffs will lead to higher costs for US farmers
Reuters | February 20, 2025 |
Allan potash mine south of Saskatoon, Canada. (Image courtesy of Nutrien.)
Fertilizer producer Nutrien said on Thursday US President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on Canadian imports will increase costs for American farmers.
Trump plans to place a 25% tariff on Canadian imports, which will take effect in March after granting a 30-day extension.
“Frankly, costs of this (tariff) will be borne by the US farmers … the US farmers will likely feel the impact after the spring planting season,” CEO Ken Seitz said during a post-earnings conference call.
Nutrien has assembled a team from various departments to manage tariff-related operations, including duty collection.
Seitz said US farmers will be able to get fertilizer for the upcoming spring planting season. Weather problems in late 2024 prevented some fertilizer applications US farmers planned to do, officials said, leaving more needed in 2025. US farmers are expected to plant 90+ million acres of fertilizer-hungry corn this spring, leaving the company optimistic about its 2025 US demand outlook.
The potential end of the war between Russia and Ukraine isn’t seen as a threat to 2025 Nutrien sales, Seitz said, since Russian potash has already been reaching the market and Belarusian supplies, presently under sanction by the European Union and others, will have trouble reaching markets through Europe.
Belarus has been cut off from Lithuania’s main port. It will have trouble getting access regardless of sanctions, and will probably have to move through Russia to reach world markets. Belarusian idle production won’t come back fast.
“We think that happens slowly over time,” said Seitz.
(By Mrinalika Roy; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Lisa Shumaker)
Cameco sees uranium cost jump up for US customers if Trump’s tariffs go into play
Reuters | February 20, 2025 |
Cameco’s Cigar Lake uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan. Credit: Cameco
Canadian uranium miner and producer Cameco says prices for US customers could rise by 10% if President Trump’s tariffs are implemented, weighing heavily on the country that relies primarily on imports of the ore.
Executives on the company’s earnings call also said they could look to diversify away from the US to opportunities in other markets, as they have done with new customers in Central and Eastern Europe.
Trump looks to slap 10% tariffs on any energy imports from Canada from March 4.
For the US, in 2023, Canada was the largest source of uranium, supplying 27%, followed closely by Australia and Kazakhstan with 22% of deliveries each, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.
“A 10% proposed tariff from a major supply source like Canada will effectively raise the uranium price by 10% because if you think about it, US domestic demand is inelastic for contracted volumes,” said Grant Isaac, chief financial officer at Cameco, adding that it would also push other non-tariff countries to simply increase their offer prices by as much.
“The assumption that North America as a free trade zone is probably over – our neighbor to the south has discovered the hammer in the toolbox, which is tariffs,” he added.
Cameco also said this allowed the company to look to markets that don’t threaten trade action.
“I think the US puts these threats out at the peril to the security of their supply, which then goes back to my original point that this isn’t very consistent with an energy dominant strategy,” Isaac added.
(By Seher Dareen and Divya Rajagopal; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
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Reuters | February 20, 2025 |
Cameco’s Cigar Lake uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan. Credit: Cameco
Canadian uranium miner and producer Cameco says prices for US customers could rise by 10% if President Trump’s tariffs are implemented, weighing heavily on the country that relies primarily on imports of the ore.
Executives on the company’s earnings call also said they could look to diversify away from the US to opportunities in other markets, as they have done with new customers in Central and Eastern Europe.
Trump looks to slap 10% tariffs on any energy imports from Canada from March 4.
For the US, in 2023, Canada was the largest source of uranium, supplying 27%, followed closely by Australia and Kazakhstan with 22% of deliveries each, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.
“A 10% proposed tariff from a major supply source like Canada will effectively raise the uranium price by 10% because if you think about it, US domestic demand is inelastic for contracted volumes,” said Grant Isaac, chief financial officer at Cameco, adding that it would also push other non-tariff countries to simply increase their offer prices by as much.
“The assumption that North America as a free trade zone is probably over – our neighbor to the south has discovered the hammer in the toolbox, which is tariffs,” he added.
Cameco also said this allowed the company to look to markets that don’t threaten trade action.
“I think the US puts these threats out at the peril to the security of their supply, which then goes back to my original point that this isn’t very consistent with an energy dominant strategy,” Isaac added.
(By Seher Dareen and Divya Rajagopal; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
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