The long-awaited revival in the global fertilizer market remains patchy, with demand still "subdued" in Europe and North America, Yara International said as it unveiled "non-satisfactory" results.

The world's biggest nitrogen group said that global demand for nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers had picked up from last season, when the collapse in crop prices and tighter credit sent demand plunging.

And it noted a jump in the prices of ammonia, a key fertilizer ingredient, to almost $300 a tonne from $180 a tonne over the July-to-September period.

'Supply-driven markets'

However, fertilizer distributors in Europe and North America remained reluctant to restock inventories, and were filling farm orders with supplies straight from manufacturers.

"Global fertilizer markets continued to be supply-driven in the third quarter," Yara said.

The potash market was particularly soft, as traders held back purchases in expectation of a fall in "non-competitive" prices.

'Non-satisfactory results'

The comments came as Norway-based Yara unveiled a NKr117m operating loss for the period. While costs dropped by 30%, led by lower energy prices, sales fell even faster, by 43% to NKr14.4bn.

However, helped by interest income and foreign exchange gains, the group managed after-tax profits of NKr353m. A year ago, when the downturn in fertilizer prices was beginning, earnings were NKr3.17bn.

"Our third-quarter results were non-satisfactory," Jorgen Ole Haslestad, Yara's chief executive, said, blaming the slip primarily on the weak potash market, which had held back sales of so-called NPK fertilizer. NPK products blend nitrogen, phosphate and potash.

Yara shares closed 2.5% higher at NKr203.50 in Oslo.