(Reuters) -Nutrien topped Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit on Wednesday, as the world's top potash producer benefited from improved demand in North America amid a robust corn planting season.
U.S. farmers expanded corn plantings by 5% this year to the highest since 2013 while cutting soybean acres by 4% to a five-year low, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in June.
The agency expects U.S. farmers will seed 95.203 million acres (38.527 million hectares) of corn this year, up from
90.594 million last year.
"Fertilizer market fundamentals are supported by strong global demand, persistent supply disruptions and project delays. We have seen healthy fertilizer customer engagement and field activity in North America," CEO Ken Seitz said in a statement.
Saskatoon, Canada-based Nutrien said it expects current-year potash sales volumes to be in the range of 13.9 million tonnes to 14.5 million tonnes.
It previously projected potash sales volumes of 13.6 million tonnes to 14.4 million tonnes.
U.S.-listed shares of the company were up more than 2% in trading after the bell.
Nutrien's second-quarter potash sales jumped 31% to $991 million in the three months ended June 30.
Total sales rose to $10.44 billion, from $10.16 billion a year earlier, with the retail segment, the company's largest by revenue, reporting sales of $7.96 billion during the quarter.
The company posted an adjusted profit of $2.65 per share, compared with analysts' average estimate of $2.40, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
