Potash Corp. extends layoff of 940 workers

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan plans to extend the temporary layoff of 940 workers who were let go in January.

The layoff covers workers at Potash's Saskatchewan plants in Rocanville, Lanigan and Allan.

Workers at those fertilizer sites were initially laid off for eight weeks.

The extended layoffs come one day after Potash said it is reducing its 2009 potash production by an additional 1.5 million tonnes, bringing the total expected cut of its capacity to at least 3.5 million tonnes this year.

With inventories in its key markets expected to be mostly depleted in the second quarter of this year, the company said it is expecting a strong rebound in potash demand in the second half of 2009 that should continue into 2010.

"Farmers, like other consumers, have been on a buying hiatus but they cannot remain on the sidelines indefinitely,” said PotashCorp CEO Bill Doyle.

“People need to eat, farmers need to grow and sell crops, and maintaining soil fertility is essential for those things to happen," he said in a release.

With files from Canadian Press