In the normal course of operations, PotashCorp engages in a variety of transactions that, under Canadian GAAP, are either not recorded on our Consolidated Statements of Financial Position or are recorded on our Consolidated Statements of Financial Position in amounts that differ from the full contract amounts. Principal off-balance sheet activities we undertake include issuance of guarantee contracts, certain derivative instruments and long-term fixed price contracts. We do not reasonably expect any presently known trend or uncertainty to affect our ability to continue using these arrangements. These types of arrangements are discussed below.
Guarantee contracts
In the normal course of operations, the company provides indemnifications that are often standard contractual terms to counterparties in transactions such as purchase and sale contracts, service agreements, director/officer contracts and leasing transactions. These indemnification agreements may require the company to compensate the counterparties for costs incurred as a result of various events, including environmental liabilities and changes in (or in the interpretation of) laws and regulations, or as a result of litigation claims or statutory sanctions that may be suffered by the counterparty as a consequence of the transaction. The terms of these indemnification agreements will vary based upon the contract, the nature of which prevents the company from making a reasonable estimate of the maximum potential amount that it could be required to pay to counterparties. Historically, the company has not made any significant payments under such indemnifications and no amounts have been accrued in the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements with respect to these indemnification guarantees (apart from any appropriate accruals relating to the underlying potential liabilities).
The company enters into agreements in the normal course of business that may contain features that meet the definition of a guarantee. Various debt obligations (such as overdrafts, lines of credit with counterparties for derivatives and back-to-back loan arrangements) and other commitments (such as railcar leases) related to certain subsidiaries and investees have been directly guaranteed by the company under such agreements with third parties. The company would be required to perform on these guarantees in the event of default by the guaranteed parties. No material loss is anticipated by reason of such agreements and guarantees. At June 30, 2008, the maximum potential amount of future (undiscounted) payments under significant guarantees provided to third parties approximated $566.2. As many of these guarantees will not be drawn upon and the maximum potential amount of future payments does not consider the possibility of recovery under recourse or collateral provisions, this amount is not indicative of future cash requirements or the company’s expected losses from these arrangements. At June 30, 2008, no subsidiary balances subject to guarantees were outstanding in connection with the company’s cash management facilities, and it had no liabilities recorded for other obligations other than subsidiary bank borrowings of approximately $5.9, which are reflected in other long-term debt, and cash margins held of approximately $213.6 to maintain derivatives, which are included in accounts payable and accrued charges.
The company has guaranteed the gypsum stack capping, closure and post-closure obligations of White Springs and PCS Nitrogen in Florida and Louisiana, respectively, pursuant to the financial assurance regulatory requirements in those states.
The environmental regulations of the Province of Saskatchewan require each potash mine to have decommissioning and reclamation plans. Financial assurances for these plans must be established within one year following approval of these plans by the responsible provincial minister. The Minister of Environment for Saskatchewan provisionally approved the plans in July 2000. In July 2001, a Cdn $2.0 irrevocable letter of credit was posted. The company submitted a revised plan when it was due in 2006 and is awaiting a response from the Province. The company is unable to predict, at this time, the outcome of the ongoing review of the plans or the timing of implementation and structure of any financial assurance requirements.
The company has met its financial assurance responsibilities as of June 30, 2008. Costs associated with the retirement of long-lived tangible assets have been accrued in the accompanying consolidated condensed financial statements to the extent that a legal liability to retire such assets exists.
During the period, the company entered into various other commercial letters of credit in the normal course of operations.
The company expects that it will be able to satisfy all applicable credit support requirements without disrupting normal business operations.
Derivative instruments
We use derivative financial instruments to manage exposure to commodity price, interest rate and foreign exchange rate fluctuations. Regardless of whether the derivatives are designated as hedges for Canadian GAAP purposes, they are recorded on the Consolidated Statements of Financial Position at fair value and marked-to-market each reporting period, except for certain non-financial derivatives that have qualified for and for which we have documented a normal purchase or normal sale exception in accordance with the accounting standards.
Long-term fixed price contracts
Certain of our long-term raw materials agreements contain fixed price components. Our significant agreements, and the related obligations under such agreements, are discussed in "Cash Requirements".
