PotashCorp Completes Purchase of SQM Shares Listed: TSX, NYSE Symbol: POT SASKATOON, SK, Dec. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (PotashCorp) announced today that it has indirectly acquired Israel Chemicals Ltd.'s (ICL) entire interest in a Cayman Islands subsidiary for a purchase price of US $100.4 million. The Cayman Islands subsidiary holds 19,200,242 million Series A and 2,699,773 million Series B shares in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA (SQM), a Chilean specialty fertilizer, iodine and lithium company. Prior to execution of the above noted transaction, PotashCorp, through a subsidiary, sold 8,500,000 Series A shares of SQM for US $59.8 million through a public auction process on the Santiago stock exchange. This sale is expected to result in a non-taxable gain of approximately US $32.3 million, or US $0.29 per diluted share to be recorded in the fourth quarter. Through separate transactions, PotashCorp now indirectly holds 63,062,037 Series A shares and 2,699,773 Series B shares of SQM. This amounts to 24.99 percent of the total outstanding shares of SQM. "We are pleased with this addition to our potash holdings," said Bill Doyle, PotashCorp President and CEO. "We will continue to explore and evaluate opportunities both within and outside Saskatchewan as we grow our pre-eminent position as a global potash entity." Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. is the world's largest fertilizer enterprise producing the three primary plant nutrients and a leading supplier to three distinct market categories: agriculture, with the largest capacity in the world in potash and third largest in phosphate and nitrogen; animal nutrition, with the world's largest capacity in phosphate feed ingredients; and industrial chemicals, as among the largest global producers of industrial nitrogen and industrial phosphate products. This release contains forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties, including those referred to in the company's annual report to shareholders for 2003 and in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, fluctuation in supply and demand in fertilizer, sulfur and petrochemical markets; changes in competitive pressures, including pricing pressures; risks associated with natural gas and other hedging activities; changes in capital markets; changes in currency and exchange rates; unexpected geological or environmental conditions; and government policy changes. DATASOURCE: Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. CONTACT: Betty-Ann Heggie, Senior Vice President, Corporate Relations, Phone: (306) 933-8521, Fax: (306) 933-8844, E-mail: , Web Site: http://www.potashcorp.com/

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