Uralkali keeps domestic potash price unchanged

MOSCOW May 15 (Reuters) - Uralkali, Russia's largest potash producer, said on Tuesday that it will leave its price ceiling for domestic agricultural producers unchanged at 4,760 roubles ($160) per tonne in the second half of the year.

The price was set at this level for the first half of 2012 as part of an agreement with the Federal Anti-monopoly service under which the domestic price rises in line with the industrial inflation index.

Prices on the domestic market are well below global levels. In March, Uralkali's export joint venture agreed to sell up to 500,000 tonnes of potash to China in the second quarter at $470 per tonne on a cost-and-freight basis.

Uralkali sold 17 percent of its output on the domestic market last year.

Overall production was 10.8 million tonnes, and it controls 43 percent of the global export market via the BPC trading company it operates together with Belaruskali. ($1 = 30.4150 Russian roubles) (Reporting By Alfred Kueppers; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)