K+S signs $460/tonne potash deal with India

* K+S agreed to deliver 100,000 tonnes of potash to India

* Deal is latest in string of contracts at lower price

FRANKFURT, July 22 (Reuters) - German salt miner K+S SDFG.DE became the latest potash supplier to sign a $460-per-tonne supply deal with India, cementing a slump in prices that has weighed on global potash companies' shares.

K+S agreed to deliver 100,000 tonnes of the fertilizer mineralto the country's main importer, Indian Potash, for delivery through March 2010, a K+S spokesman said on Wednesday.

India, the world's fourth-largest potash consuming nation, accounts for only a fraction of the 4-4.5 million tonnes of potash products K+S plans to sell this year, but the price decline is expected to seep through into its other markets.

Potash is one of three main nutrients needed for synthetic fertilisers, the others being nitrogen and phosphorus.

On July 10, shares of global potash companies including Potash Corp (POT.TO) fell sharply after trade publications reported that India has settled some of its 2009 potash contract orders with Russian producer Silvinit SILV.RTS at $460 a tonne, sharply below market expectations. [ID:nN10522755]

The Silvinit contract, reportedly covering 850,000 tonnes, came in well below the $625 to $635 per tonne range that all other major producers had proposed.

A further three companies, Belarussian Potash, Israel Chemicals (ICL.TA), and Arab Potash, had agreed to supply potash at $460 a tonne, the head of India's main farmers' procurement co-operative IFFCO said last week.

While Belarussian Potash later said negotiations were still ongoing, Israel Chemicals confirmed that a $460 contract over 750,000 tonnes had been inked with an unnamed Indian customer.

Market experts are eagerly awaiting the outcome of price negotiations with China's import monopoly, the world's largest potash user.

The head of K+S's fertiliser business, Joachim Felker, said on July 2 that China was likely to come to an agreement with suppliers over bulk contracts within weeks after the main deals in India, albeit at a lower price than India. [ID:nL2773025] (Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Rupert Winchester)