Mosaic provided a fillip to shares in agribusiness groups worldwide by unveiling quarterly earnings well ahead of Wall Street forecasts, citing a growing willingness by farmers to splash out increasing crop yields.

The fertilizer giant, which is majority owned by agribusiness icon Cargill, reported earnings for the August-to-November quarter had quadrupled to $430m, even excluding a one-off gain from the sale of its stake in Brazil's Fosfertil.

The figure, equivalent to $1.01 a share, beat analyst expectations of a $0.91-a-share result.

Mosaic attributed the beat to "record" demand for phosphate and potash, as soaring crop prices sent "clear signals to farmers worldwide to plant more area and apply more technology, including fertilizer, to their 2011 crops".

'Exceptional fundamentals' 

"Underlying fundamentals for the crop nutrient industry are exceptional," Jim Prokopanko, the Mosaic chief executive, said.

"Global grain markets continue to signal to farmers that crop nutrients are a good investment to maximise yields."

Mosaic's own shares closed up 2.8% at $76.13 in New York, with those in rival nutrient groups also firm. In Toronto, stock in PotashCorp, the top potash operator, added 3.5% to Can$161.50, while in Tel Aviv, Israel Chemicals gained 1.8% to 60.88 shekels.

Hopes of higher farm spending were also seen as supportive to shares in agrichemicals groups such as Swiss-based Syngenta, whose stock closed up 2.9% at SFr292.60, while equipment makers also finished higher, with Deere & Co up 1.5% at $84.24.

Sector prospects 

Mosaic said that the market for phosphates, of which it is the top producer, was particularly strong in the quarter, with growth in both volumes and sales driving divisional revenues up by more than one-half to $2.0bn.

Growth of nearly 70% to $699.0m in potash sales was driven by a jump in volumes, with selling prices falling by 10.5% year on year to $331 per tonne.

The group estimated that industry potash shipments rebounded 59% to 49.7m tonnes in 2010, with a further increase to 53m-56m tonnes expected this year.

"Increases are projected in all major consuming and importing markets," Mosaic said.

For phosphates, shipments will build on a record 57.0m tonnes set last year, hitting 59m-61m tonnes in 2011.