May 6 (Reuters) – Canada’s Nutrien reported a rise in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, benefiting from higher sales and prices in its fertilizer segments, and the world’s top potash producer also signaled tighter conditions in the nitrogen market going forward.
Fertilizer prices rose during the quarter, driven by a rise in nitrogen rates as global supplies tightened due to the Middle East conflict, while phosphate prices were generally higher and potash remained relatively firm, supporting margins for producers such as Nutrien.
The company expects the global nitrogen market to be affected for the rest of the year by the uneven restoration of trade flows and the gradual resumption of nitrogen production at some facilities, as well as uncertainty surrounding Chinese urea exports and Indian urea imports.
“We anticipate relatively tight potash fundamentals throughout 2026, and demand trends are expected to challenge existing global operational and supply chain capabilities,” the company said.
Net sales across all Nutrien fertilizer segments increased during the first quarter, supported by stronger pricing. Potash net sales rose 24% to $926 million driven by record volumes, while nitrogen sales rose 15% to $1.01 billion and phosphates gained 35% to $485 million.
However, adjusted core profit in the phosphates segment fell 7% to $57 million due to higher sulfur input costs.
Nutrien is moving forward as planned with the review of strategic alternatives for its phosphates business, the Trinidad nitrogen facility and its Brazilian retail business, the fertilizer company said.
Nutrien launched a strategic review of its phosphates business in November to simplify its portfolio. In October, it began a controlled shutdown of its nitrogen operations in Trinidad due to gas supply constraints and port access issues that affected free cash flow.
The Saskatoon, Canada-based company reported net income of $139 million, or 27 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31, down from $19 million, or 2 cents per share, a year earlier.
(Reporting by Sumit Saha in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda)