Yara, the Norwegian fertiliser giant, reported a €9m pre-tax loss for the fourth quarter of its 2016 financial year as lower fertiliser prices negatively affected the business.

Despite the fourth-quarter loss, Yara was able to report €944m in pre-tax profits for its full financial year, which represents a 21% decline compared with the previous financial year.

Yara’s operating income declined by more than a third (-38%) in the year to €990m, as profit margins shrunk from 12.6% to 9%. Total sales for the year declined 13%, reflecting the weaker price of fertiliser in 2016.

Yara’s average price for urea in 2016 was $199/t, which is more than a quarter (-27%) behind 2015 prices. The average price of CAN was back 26% year-on-year to $199/t, with the final quarter price of CAN particularly weak at $184/t.

In volume terms, sales for the year increased slightly (+1%) with 36.2m tonnes of fertiliser shipped in 2016. Urea shipments were flat at 6.7m tonnes, while sales of NPK increased 10% to 10.4m tonnes.

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Yara reports fourth-quarter loss as prices bottom out

Fertiliser prices declined by more than 25% in 2016, which negatively hit Yara profits last year.