Canada’s potash marketing and trading company, Canpotex Ltd., said today that it has signed an agreement with a subsidiary of China’s Sinofert for 1 million tons of potash in the first half of 2013. The agreed-upon price is $70 per metric ton less than the price Sinofert paid on the previous contract.

Canpotex is owned by The Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS), Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU), and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT). The sale to Sinofert falls under a three-year agreement between Canpotex and Sinofert signed in October 2010.

The estimated price per metric ton is around $400, at the lower end of an anticipated range of $400 to $430 a ton for potash deliveries to both China and India in 2013. Potash supply has been cut both in Canada and Ukraine, the two primary global suppliers, as demand has weakened for the fertilizer.

Shares of Mosaic are up about 2.1% at $56.36 in a 52-week range of $44.43 to $61.98. Shares of Agrium are up about 2.2% at $100.12 in a 52-week range of $68.43 to $108.42. Shares of Potash Corp. are also up about 2.1% at $40.60 in a 52-week range of $36.73 to $48.00.

Paul Ausick