We’ve worked extremely to bring our inventory down. And if I sit here today on a total perspective from an inventory side of things, we’re all just under $1.5 billion of inventory. And that’s equally split pretty much so by crop protection and fertilizer. And so that puts us in a good position. to run our inventories extremely low from a balance sheet standpoint. And that will give us some very opportunistic, we hope, buying opportunities in the fall from that standpoint. I think I mentioned earlier, if I look at Australia and North America crop protection, that’s a bit of a different picture from the Latin America and Brazil market. Again, crop protection is a real drag today in that Brazilian market. And — but what I am very pleased with in that market, I think Ken mentioned earlier that we were down about $150 million of inventory.
That’s just on crop protection. We brought our overall inventory down there, $300 million. So we’re really working to get ourselves in a better inventory position. We will see a recovery in those crop protection margins, however, when we see the whole industry get to that same inventory level going forward. And I think you asked some questions about how we see pricing and stuff. And I think assuming a fairly stable potash market and pricing as both Mark and Ken, responded to earlier. We see that pricing pretty stable. And again, if we pull the type of crop off that we think we’re going to pull off this year, then we should see strong demand this fall.
Operator: Your next question is from the line of Steve Hansen from Raymond James.
Steven Hansen: I’m just curious here, sticking to the theme of reliability. I’m curious how you feel about the resiliency of your logistical export capabilities. I recognize you can’t control strike actions, of course, across your supply chain, but including one that might come this month. But I am thinking just a to hit the last fall, the [indiscernible] strike in [indiscernible] last year. You’ve often talked about export valves in the U.S. Gulf in the past. Is that still an idea you want to pursue? And just any broader commentary around how you think about that reliability export network.
Kenneth Seitz: Thank you, Steve. Thanks for the question. And I would say for the things that are in our control, we feel very good about the resilience and reliability of our network. And in fact, we would consider it to be the most extensive and competitive in the world. And that is, obviously, our load-out capabilities at our mine sites. It is our capabilities across our network in North America, nitrogen network. It’s our capabilities right through warehousing trucks into our customers in North America and then offshore through terminals, as you say. And with Canpotex, we do have access to multiple terminals. Obviously, the main one is on the of Vancouver, and [indiscernible] terminals, but we spend a [indiscernible] lot of volumes through [indiscernible], and we have an outlet in as well.
And in fact, well, that’s a long journey by rail, depending on what’s happening in the Panama Canal. That is a great outlet for us for the East Coast of Latin America. So we do have optionality and we have that optionality as well for ports off the Gulf Coast. And we have used, in fact, used those terminals, including our own in North Carolina. And so we continue to maintain that option. And we believe that we’ve proven that so that when we do have these things that are out of our control, we can through that value chain, preposition product fill the channel to the extent that we can and minimize the impact of the things that are out of our control. We’ve proven that time and time again. Indeed, that’s the work that we have done today in preparation for what might be over the coming weeks with some of the challenges with rail.
So we’ll see about that. But hence, maintaining our guidance range, including some of those things that are out of our control because we have that extraordinary and extensive and competitive network.
Jeff Holzman: Operator, we have time for one more question.
Operator: Your last question is from the line of Edlain Rodriguez from Mizuho Group.
Edlain Rodriguez: Just one quick one. I mean I know for you guys, we don’t think the potash contracts with China and India are as important as they used to be in the past. But somehow they still loom large in our mind. Given the recovery in the you’ve seen in the global market, would you be disappointed if those contracts settle at a lower price, the prices that they have now.
Kenneth Seitz: Yes. We’re watching those markets closely. Obviously, Edlain, thank you for the questions. Those are standard grade markets. And you’re right that while we have sort of reduced reliance on those contract markets, particularly China. It is also true to your point that we’ve seen a bit of a seasonal pause in standard grade markets as some of the other spot markets for standard grade, watch the contract process. So I’ll hand it over to Mark, who sits on the Canpotex board and is watching the evolution of the inventory levels in the contract markets and how those discussions are going.
Mark Thompson: Yes. Thanks, Ken. Edlain, yes, I think, again, as Ken mentioned and I mentioned earlier in the call, we’ve seen really good momentum in certain markets, including some of the standard markets start the year. But again, as you mentioned, while those contracts, particularly China, is less meaningful both from a Canpotex sales mix and just overall global volumes than it was previously, we still think that’s one of a number of indicators that will allow standard volume to keep moving throughout the remainder of the year. I think just a bit of color in terms of how we’re thinking about those. If you look at India first, in India, shipments vessel lineup are off to a stronger start in 2024 so far versus last year, and we would view the inventory levels in India is actually being below historically average levels.
So consistent with what we’ve said before, we do still think India is going to be the first to conclude an offshore contract, and we see the potential for import economics to remain favorable. We do see the potential that any reduction in contract price. The positive of that would be that, that could be passed along by the government in the form of the maximum retail price, which would again stimulate demand down at the farm level. So when we look at all those factors combined with expectations for a more favorable rainfall, all these factors support our view that we do think there’s going to be growth in Indian shipments this year, which would be a positive overall for demand. And then I think just from a China perspective to reiterate some of the points that Ken made earlier in the call, through Q1, we’ve actually seen very strong shipments to China.
