Global potash shipments will soar by up to a third next year as fertilizer use recovers from a dip which has, in the US, driven applications to a 26-year low, the world's biggest nutrient producer has said.

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan said shipments would rise from about 45m tonnes this year as high as a record 60m tonnes in 2010 as farm demand revives at a time when inventories have been sapped by a "major destocking".

The recovery in consumption will begin in the second half of 2009, as farmers rebuild nutrient levels sapped by two bumper harvests and a cut in fertilizer usage caused by last year's economic crisis and weakening commodities markets.

"The short-term decline in fertilizer use is not sustainable," PotashCorp said.

"Nutrient remove from the world's soils has been significant, creating a need to rebuild soil fertility."

US scrimping

The drop has been particularly severe in the US, where applications have fallen by 15-20% in the closing fertilizer season to their lowest since 1983, "a year when crop production was around 50% of current requirements".

Potash applications had been particularly affected, dropping 35%, with phosphate use sliding 25%.

Global fertilizer use had dropped by well under 10%, with some countries, such as India, maintaining growth in applications, the report said.