Nutrien has announced a net loss of $48 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. Despite that, President and CEO Chuck Magro says, “Nutrien’s earnings held up well in 2019 and we generated strong free cash flow in a very tough agricultural market.” Magro says agricultural fundamentals are strengthening and grower sentiment is positive. He says, “We expect higher planting and favorable farm economics to support strong North American crop input demand in 2020.” Nutrien generated $2.2 billion in free cash flow last year; that was up nine per cent from the year before. Potash earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization were down 62 per cent in the fourth quarter compared to the same period the year before. That was due to lower sales volumes, and lower net realized selling prices caused by a temporary reduction in global demand, the impact of production downtime, and the CNR strike.

As a potash supplier, Nutrien is interested in crop expectations. The company expects global potash demand to rebound in 2020. Nutrien is forecasting an additional 14 million acres to be planted in the United States this year. Demand for potash in Southeast Asia is expected to be supported by significant improvement in palm oil prices. Hanging over all of that though is the uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 virus, drought conditions in Australia, and the African Swine Fever.