Uralchem said it was unlikely to revise its flotation plans this year, despite a return by the fertilizer group to first quarter profit, helped by its "flexible production model".

The Russian group, which in April ditched a listing in London of up to $600m, reported earnings of $19m for the January-to-March period, compared with a $118m loss a year before.

Revenues rose 38% to $325m, with phosphate sales doubling by volume.

However, Uralchem said the return to the black did not mean that it would imminently reheat its IPO plans, which were dogged by volatile markets and the Icelandic volcanic eruption which grounded European aircraft just as Dmitry Mazepin, the oligarch who owns the group, was planning a tour of investors.

"We are ready when markets recover," a spokesman told Agrimoney.com.

He added: "I highly doubt it [a flotation] will be this year".

Ammonia vs urea

The group said that its return to profit reflected the global recovery in fertilizer demand from last year, when farmers, faced with weak crop prices and tight credit, slashed applications to save cash.

However, the extent of the Uralchem revival was driven by the working practices and technology it has introduced to allow rapid switching between different fertilizer lines in response to market prices.

"Our flexible production model once again allowed us to shift production plans to capture maximal margin from market pricing conditions," Dmitry Osipov, the Uralchem chief executive, said.

In the first quarter, this had seen the group stick prefer ammonia, of which sales rose by 61% by volume, over urea, the product further down the nitrogen manufacturing chain, which suffered a 31% slide.

"Market conditions made it profitable for the company to sell straight ammonia as opposed to processing it further into urea," Uralchem said.

Urea prices have fallen from $300 a tonne about four months ago to $220 a tonne at the start of this month, as recorded at in Yuzhny, the Ukrainian port which sets global benchmark prices.

Export growth 

Growth in Uralchem's first quarter sales was fastest in Russia, where farmers suffered a particular squeeze on credit last year.

However, exports remained the bigger market, rising 28% to $214m to account for nearly two thirds of group sales.