MOSCOW, July 14 (Reuters) - An emergency rail link allowing Russian potash miner Silvinit SILV.RTS to deliver the in-demand soil nutrient is likely to close in the next few weeks under threat from an expanding sinkhole, a senior engineer said on Monday.
Sergei Testov, chief engineer at a power station near the sinkhole, said the link could be disrupted for at least several weeks as the government considers options for a third rail spur to move potash from Silvinit's mine in the Ural mountains.
"We will do everything we can to build the new rail line before the old one is closed," Testov, one of the lead engineers in the rail link construction programme, told Reuters by telephone from Perm region.
"It probably won't be a disruption of two or three months, but for two or three weeks we will probably need to disrupt it."
Silvinit, which accounts for over 10 percent of global potash supply, reduced shipments of the soil nutrient last year after the collapse of a 50-year-old deposit owned by rival miner Uralkali (URKAq.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) opened up the sinkhole and cut its rail link.
The disruption to supplies caused potash prices to rocket to record highs on fears of a global shortage at a time when the fertiliser component is in high demand from farmers anxious to replenish dwindling global grain stocks.
Canada's Potash Corp of Saskatchewan (POT.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (POT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world's largest potash miner, suspended new sales contracts temporarily in October on fears of a global shortage following the first disruption near the sinkhole. [ID:nN25321683] Continued...
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