en.Wedoany.com Reported - Canadian fertilizer producer Nutrien reported its Q2 2026 financial results, posting a net profit of $1.22 billion for the quarter, with diluted earnings per share of $2.53; revenue reached $10.8 billion, up 4% year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA stood at $2.43 billion, as record potash sales and higher nitrogen benchmark prices offset weak margins in the phosphate segment.
Nutrien President and CEO Ken Seitz stated that in the first half of 2026, the company achieved record potash sales, delivered strong growth in proprietary product margins, and further enhanced the reliability and cost advantage of its nitrogen assets in a dynamic global operating environment.
The potash segment was the primary driver of quarterly performance. Potash sales reached a record 7.45 million tonnes in the first half, with controllable cash costs below $60 per tonne. Nutrien raised the lower end of its full-year potash sales guidance from 14.1 million tonnes to 14.2 million tonnes, while maintaining the upper end at 14.8 million tonnes. The average net selling price for potash rose to $267 per tonne from $248 per tonne in the same period last year.
Adjusted EBITDA for the nitrogen segment climbed to $1.12 billion in the first half, primarily benefiting from higher global benchmark prices and natural gas costs falling to $2.72 per million British thermal units (compared to $3.61 in the same period last year). Production declined as the company executed its largest-ever turnaround at the Carseland facility and absorbed the impact of the Trinidad nitrogen plant outage.
The phosphate segment posted the weakest performance. Surging sulfur input costs pushed cost of sales up to $812 per tonne from $646 per tonne in the same period last year, turning gross profit negative at negative $31 per tonne. Nutrien stated that its strategic review of the phosphate business remains on track for completion in 2026.
Operating cash flow grew 12% in the first half. Nutrien returned $848 million to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks, with share repurchases increasing by 26%. Capital expenditure guidance was revised down to a range of $1.95 billion to $2.05 billion, from the previous range of $2.0 billion to $2.1 billion.
The company expects global nitrogen fundamentals to remain tight in the second half of 2026, driven by trade flow disruptions, rising energy prices, and import demand from India and Brazil. Full-year global potash shipments are projected at 74 million to 77 million tonnes.
Nutrien's results follow CF Industries' second-quarter report, which showed its nitrogen profits nearly doubling; a day earlier, Mosaic reported a net loss of $273 million due to sulfur shortages that hurt global phosphate producers.
