UPDATE 1-Uralkali agrees 20 pct cut on India potash prices

* Says agrees new shipment price at $370 per tonne

* Previous deal was $460 per tonne

MOSCOW, March 12 (Reuters) - Russian potash miner Uralkali (URKA.MM) said its Belarusian joint venture had agreed a new price for shipments to India at $370 a tonne, 20 percent below the previous deal.

The company said in a Friday statement the Belarusian Potash Company (BPC) had struck the agreement for 900 thousand tonnes of potash to be delivered from April 2010 to March 2011.

The previous price was $460 a tonne.

Potash, a key component of fertiliser used in agriculture, is recovering its value after falling dramatically during the global economic crisis.

"The settlement with India is another positive sign that demand for potash fertilizer is continuing its recovery," Oleg Petrov, director of sales for BPC, said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

"This is a fair agreement for both sides, both in terms of price and volumes, in a country that remains one of the key markets for potash exports," he added, without commenting on why the price was lower.

Uralkali shares were up 0.8 percent at 1525 GMT, underperforming the wider Moscow market .

The comments came as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited India to reaffirm decades-old ties. [ID:nSGE62B0B8] (Reporting by John Bowker, editing by Will Waterman)