The interim chief executive of the world’s largest potash company, Canada’s Nutrien Inc., says that even with a significant hike in production of potash, global supply could still fall short of demand.

“What's keeping me up at night is…we believe that there's going to be shortages of an essential nutrient like potash,” Ken Seitz, the interim head of Nutrien, said in an interview on Friday.

Nutrien announced in early June that it plans to increase potash production from 15 million tonnes to 18 million tonnes by 2025 to help fill the gap left by Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.

“That's still probably going to fall short of some of the gap that's going to exist but again, [we’re] stepping up to help… our farmer customers really all over the world,” he said.

He added that the company hasn’t ruled out further production increases.

“Safety is our top priority. And so we've mapped out a path now to 18 million tonnes where we can ramp up and do that safely. Beyond 2025, we'll look at the market and assess whether there's still a need there and whether we need to increase more and we do have that capability. We have the ability to invest and expand from 18 to 23 million tonnes over the following years,” he said.

Potash prices have soared on fears of a shortage after Russia invaded Ukraine, threatening their production of the crop nutrient. Bloomberg data shows Russia was the second-largest potash supplier in 2021, churning out nine million tons. Canada was the world’s top supplier at 14 million tonnes.

“Obviously this terrible conflict in Eastern Europe is causing challenges in food supply chains, really, all over the world. And it's a few things. One, obviously, that part of the world – Ukraine -- produces a lot of [agriculture] commodities,” Seitz said.

“But then also, Russia and Belarus produce huge amounts of crop nutrients. And so for us as the largest crop nutrient producer in the world, we're thinking hard now about the role that we can play in helping fill some of that gap.”

Nutrien hiked its profit forecast in May as demand for its product increases with Eastern European supplies on shaky ground. It said it now sees adjusted earnings per share of US$16.20 to US$18.70, compared to its previous forecasted range of US$10.20 to US$11.80 per share.

Seitz was named interim chief executive after a sudden resignation from Mayo Schmidt, who had been in the job for just eight months. The company didn’t give a reason initially for Schmidt’s departure, but shortly after, Nutrien’s chairman said the resignation was “necessary and in the best long-term interest” of the company.

Seitz said the board is still searching for a permanent replacement.

“We've been very thoughtful and thorough about that. We're considering internal and external candidates. The board has been clear that they expect to be in a position to make a decision in the latter half of this year,” he said.