uralkali settles China contact at $305OAO Uralkali (URKA), the largest potash producer, agreed to supply the soil nutrient to China at a price 24 percent less than a contract that expired in July, following a market slump, according to industry researchers. Uralkali will sell potash to China at $305 a ton under a contract covering the first half of 2014, CRU International and Argus FMB Potash said in reports today, without giving details on the volumes covered by the deal. The price compares with the $400 Uralkali charged when it marketed potash jointly with Belarus until July. The press service at Berezniki, Russia-based Uralkali declined to comment before an official statement. Prices have fallen since Uralkali pulled out of a trading venture with Belaruskali that controlled 40 percent of global exports. Uralkali accused its Belarusian partner of selling potash outside their marketing agreement, and moved to increase its own production. Chinese spot prices have dropped to $303 to $305 a ton, Uralkali marketing chief Oleg Petrov said Dec. 19. “Any deal at a price higher than $300 is a success for Uralkali,” Konstantin Yuminov, a Raiffeisenbank analyst in Moscow, said by phone today. Companies owned by billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, as well as Russia’s OAO Uralchem, bought 47 percent of Uralkali from billionaire Suleiman Kerimov and his partners after Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko demanded new ownership as a condition for talks about restoring joint marketing. Reviving Cooperation “We expect a prompt return to cooperation,” said Enena Sakhnova, an analyst at VTB Capital. After China’s previous contract with the Uralkali-Belaruskali venture expired in the first half of last year, Uralkali took up an option to sell 500,000 tons to China from August through December -- a deal originally granted to its joint venture. The price of the option wasn’t disclosed. Potash is a form of potassium used by farmers to strengthen plant roots and boost resistance to drought. Global sales, which are dominated by producers in the former Soviet Union and North America, are valued at about $20 billion a year.