US farmers are to plant roughly the same acreage with corn next spring as this year – but will buy far bigger quantities of nitrogen fertilizers, Terra Industries has said, while warning the current trading had been weaker than expected.

The US fertilizer group said that the rising price of far-ahead corn futures, with December 2010 corn adding 20% to $4.14 a bushel since early September,  "supports expectations" for America's corn sowings hitting 86m-87m acres next year.

At that level, sowings would be in line with both those of 2009 and 2008.

Nonetheless, nitrogen demand would be higher, as farmers raised applications and the fertilizer trade ended a period of running down stocks.

'Busy season' 

"Nitrogen inventories were reduced coming out of the 2008-09 fertilizer year," Terra said.

Ammonia fertilizers would be the first to feel the benefit, with applications returning to normal levels this autumn.

Sales of urea ammonium nitrate, a more specialist nitrogen fertilizer, should pick up late in the October-to-December quarter as dealer customers "stock inventories for a busy spring application season".

Warns on profits

The comments came as Terra said that revenues would come in at $347.0m for the July-to-September period, down 56% year on year and lower than the $359m analysts had expected.

The drop reflected lower sales prices and volumes, inventory drawdowns and weak farm demand.

Earnings would come in at $45.9m, compared with Wall Street expectations, excluding one-off figures, of a $58.2m result.

Terra shares stood 2.6% lower at $35.43 in morning trade in New York.