Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions). Our first question comes from the line of Mark Connelly from Credit Suisse. Please proceed.
Mark Connelly - Credit Suisse
Thank you just two quick things first we are hearing lots and lots of talk about demand destruction both in the U.S. and abroad and I was wondering if you could share with us what your customers are saying and what they might be saying about next season. My second question was with respect to Peru whether you would give us a sense of what the milestones we should be looking for as you know track the progress of that?
Tony Nocchiero
Okay good morning Mark. You know with respect to demand destruction we are in uncharted territory here with the fertilizer prices in the range that no one has experienced, with. From a domestic standpoint we have got crop prices that are also in that range and certainly we believe from an economic standpoint farmers in this country have every incentive to continue to plant substantial acreages, particularly in corn the December future today I think is around $6 that provides good incentive for farmers to plant. It actually puts the economics of ethanol back on the positive side.
So we do not see signs of demand destruction particularly they are not present on the nitrogen side. When the economics of the spring come forward a bit and the farmer has a better idea what is likely to get for his crop next spring and will have to make some decisions about this mix of nutrients. We think that the return on each nutrient is significantly positive, but the farmer may make a different decision when the time comes. With respect to Peru, I mentioned that we are now working on the gas contract itself. Mark I think, you are going to look at that particular task as a milestone. We are likely to make an announcement when we get to that point.
Other important tasks that we have here are to identify a site to work with another group that is putting a pipeline in place to take the gas from where it meets the Pacific coast, to our chosen site. That is another task that has to take place. We have to get contracts in place that will bring the gas to our site and of course all the work that we are doing now with Technip, to identify the cost of the project, and we will have to bring all those economics together on appropriate time to evaluate, in order to make a go or no-go decision.
- To read the full transcript on Seeking Alpha, click here »


