(in millions of US dollars)
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. 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 unaudited interim 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 September 30, 2009, the maximum potential amount of future (undiscounted) payments under significant guarantees provided to third parties approximated $579.1. It is unlikely that these guarantees will be drawn upon and the maximum potential amount of future payments does not consider the possibility of recovery under recourse or collateral provisions. Accordingly, this amount is not indicative of future cash requirements or the company’s expected losses from these arrangements. At September 30, 2009, 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.
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 USEPA has announced that it plans to adopt rules requiring financial assurance from a variety of mining operations, including phosphate rock mining. It is too early in the rulemaking process to determine what the impact, if any, on our facilities will be when these rules are issued.
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 their approval by the responsible provincial minister. The Minister of the Environment for Saskatchewan ("MOE") 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. In early 2009, the MOE advised that the 2006 decommissioning and reclamation plans were approved and advised of its preferred position regarding the financial assurances to be provided by the company. The company anticipates that all matters regarding these financial assurances will be finalized in the fourth quarter of 2009. Under the regulations, the decommissioning and reclamation plans and financial assurances are to be reviewed at least once every five years, or sooner as required by the MOE. The next scheduled review for the decommissioning and reclamation plans and financial assurances is in 2011. Based on current information, the company does not believe that its financial assurance requirements or future obligations with respect to this matter are reasonably likely to have a material impact on its consolidated financial position or results of operations.
The company has met its financial assurance responsibilities as of September 30, 2009. Costs associated with the retirement of long-lived tangible assets have been accrued in the accompanying unaudited interim condensed consolidated 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. As at September 30, 2009, $32.3 of letters of credit were outstanding.
The company expects that it will be able to satisfy all applicable credit support requirements without disrupting normal business operations.
Derivative instruments
Derivative financial instruments are used by the company to manage its exposure to exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations. The company recognizes its derivative instruments at fair value on the Consolidated Statements of Financial Position where appropriate. Contracts to buy or sell a non-financial item that can be settled net in cash or another financial instrument, or by exchanging financial instruments, as if the contracts were financial instruments (except contracts that were entered into and continue to be held for the purpose of the receipt or delivery of a non-financial item in accordance with expected purchase, sale or usage requirements), are accounted for as derivative financial instruments.
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".
