Nutrien sees potash demand growing again this year after record harvest

Nutrien Ltd. is expecting strong fundamentals for agricultural commodities to help its business this year.

Mark Thompson, Nutrien’s chief financial officer, said demand for potash is expected to grow in 2026 for the fourth consecutive year.

“We’ve seen good engagement across all major markets, with most benchmark prices approximately 20 per cent higher compared to 12 months ago. We anticipate relatively tight fundamentals through 2026, as trend line demand growth is testing existing global operating and supply chain capabilities,” he said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Thursday.

Nutrien said it expects potash sales volumes to come in between 14.1 million tonnes and 14.8 million tonnes this year.

Meanwhile, Thompson said nitrogen markets are seeing issues with tight supply while demand is poised to grow amid rising usage in Asian and Latin American markets.

The company expects nitrogen sales volumes to come in between 9.2 and 9.7 million tonnes in 2026.

The Saskatoon-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported fourth-quarter earnings of US$580 million on Wednesday, up from US$118 million the previous year.

Sales totalled US$5.34 billion in the fourth quarter, up year-over-year from US$5.1 billion.

Nutrien CEO Ken Seitz says the company is still in the midst of a strategic review for its phosphate business, initially announced in November last year, which could result in operational changes, a partnership or a sale.

“We have had significant inbound interest in entering a discussion around those assets, but we’re not in a position to do that until we have all of our ducks in a row as it relates to data information and clearly characterizing the assets so people can understand what the business is and the state of the assets,” he said.

He said the company expects to test the market in the next quarter as well as look at the possibility of revising the operations.

Nutrien is the second-largest producer of phosphate in North America. The chemical can be used in fertilizers, animal feeds and various industrial applications.

On Wednesday evening, the company declared a quarterly dividend of 55 cents US per share, which represents about a one per cent increase.

The board of directors also approved the purchase of up to five per cent of Nutrien’s issued and outstanding common shares over a 12-month period.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2026.

Daniel Johnson, The Canadian Press