White Springs Agricultural Chemicals Inc history

Bryant Sheffield, who took over the ferry in 1836, built a log hotel and built a log springhouse at Upper Mineral Springs, as it was then known.

Wight and Powell, a prosperous mercantile business in Georgia, bought the spring property known as White Suphur Springs from the Sheffields in 1882 and laid out city lots.

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (PCS) was established on February 4, 1975, by what is called an Order-In-Council of the Canadian Government.

Created to function as a commercial provincial crown corporation to produce and market potash, the firm actually began its life as a functioning producer during the 1976-77 fiscal year.

Fertilizer consumption within the United States dropped 23 percent from 1980, while other fertilizer producers managed to capitalize on PCS's lost market share by taking advantage of American freight deregulation and lower levels of oceangoing freight.

Company sales had plummeted to US$188 million in 1982, due largely to the deteriorated conditions of the North American market.

Yet by the end of fiscal 1985, sales had increased only slightly to US$197 million, and net income for the company was reported at a loss of US$49 million.

The bad news for PCS continued into 1986.

By 1988, revenues increased to US$368 million, while net income was reported at US$106 million.

In 1989, the decision was made to privatize PCS. The most significant event in the company's history came when the Province of Saskatchewan sold approximately 13 million shares in an initial public offering of company stock on the Toronto exchange.

By 1991, PCS reported an increased net income of 78 percent over the previous year, while revenue from overseas sales jumped 18 percent during the same time.