=CF Industries (CF) reported earnings on Wed 31 Oct 2018 (a/h)

CF Industries reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; strong 2019 global demand forecast including 4m acre increase in U.S. corn plantings

Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.13 per share, in-linewith the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $0.13; revenues rose 19.5% year/year to $1.04 bln vs the $0.99 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus

CF expects that the global market fundamentals that drove global nitrogen prices higher during the third quarter will persist through the fourth quarter of 2018 and into the first half of 2019

The global nitrogen demand outlook is positive for the first half of 2019

In the United States, farmers are projected to plant 93 million acres of corn in 2019, approximately four million more acres than in 2018, which, along with expected increases in wheat plantings, will drive stronger nitrogen demand in North America

Anticipated demand for urea in India and Brazil should continue to support a tighter global nitrogen supply and demand balance into 2019 as well

The company continues to monitor the impact of sanctions on Iran. In the short-term, outlets for the estimated 3-4 million metric tons of Iranian urea exports appear to be more limited than in recent years

Most significantly, India did not purchase any product from Iranian sources in its most recent urea tender in October. Iranian producers will face additional challenges should the sanctions continue due to the loss of access to technical expertise, replacement parts for current plants and resources to support new construction.