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Uralkali Raising Prices by 34%

Uralkali, the world's largest potash producer, will raise prices for Russian complex fertilizer makers by 34 percent in the first quarter of 2012 after prices for China increased.

The company will charge domestic complex fertilizer makers 9,318 rubles ($291) a metric ton, compared with 6,970 rubles now, Uralkali's press office said Tuesday in an e-mailed statement. Prices for industrial users, such as oil producers, will rise about 23 percent to as much as 10,828 rubles a ton.

The domestic prices exclude transportation costs and taxes, Uralkali said.

Global potash prices, which Uralkali uses to calculate the amount it charges Russian fertilizer makers and industrial consumers, surged in the third quarter. Uralkali used the average weighted export price in its least-expensive market in the previous quarter to set domestic rates, the company said by e-mail.

Belarussian Potash Company, Uralkali's trading arm, charged Chinese clients $400 a ton, including transportation costs, in January through June. BPC, as it's known, raised the price for China to $470 a ton from July, still the least expensive of its markets, according to the trader's web site.

All domestic prices exclude transportation costs and taxes, Uralkali said. Russian farmers will pay about 4,700 rubles a ton, an 11 percent increase.

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