Grade C-
ChemScore report card 2024

Nutrien

About the company

Sprung from a merger between Potash and Agrium, Nutrien is now the world’s largest provider of crop inputs and services. The Canadian company is a global player and produces and distributes potash, nitrogen, and phosphate products for agricultural, industrial and feed customers. Nutrien is the biggest producer of potash globally and operates some of the world’s largest potash mines. With over 2,000 retail locations in seven countries, Nutrien is a prominent player in the fertilizer industry.
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Total score
16 out of 48 points
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Product Portfolio
10 out of 18 points

To reach a final score in this category, we assess the company’s transparency in chemical production. Lower transparency makes it harder to achieve a good score. If the product portfolio transparency is very low, a company producing just one or even zero toxic chemicals (according to available data) might receive the same poor score as one producing 50.

Visit the methodology to delve deeper into the ChemScore ranking.

Number of registered hazardous chemicals 2
Number of chemicals on the EU’s Candidate List 0
Number of chemicals on the EU’s Authorisation List and/or POP substances 0
Number of persistent chemicals 0
Product portfolio transparency 62%
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Development of Safer Chemicals
5 out of 12 points
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Management & Transparency
1 out of 12 points
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Lack of Controversies
0 out of 6 points

Action points 🔍

1. Increase transparency

Little is known about Nutrien’s production or use of hazardous chemicals. We have requested that the company disclose information about its chemicals management, but it has not responded to that request. To demonstrate a commitment to transparency, Nutrien should disclose both the share of revenue and production volume of products that are, or contain, hazardous chemicals. This information should cover all operations, including subsidiaries, worldwide. Sabic provides a good example, as it has disclosed its full chemicals portfolio, including production volumes and locations.

2. Map and phase out persistent chemicals

According to public registries in the EU/US, Nutrien is not responsible for placing any persistent chemicals on these markets. However, the company might be using persistent chemicals, bought from other producers within the EU/US. They should, like Sika and LyondellBasell, disclose the share of revenue generated by products containing PFAS or other persistent chemicals. If that figure is 0%, the company should, like Sasol, clearly state that they do not buy or produce any PFAS, then expand that to include all persistent chemicals.

3. Develop safer solutions

Nutrien currently lacks a strict policy for limiting hazardous chemicals in its new product development. As a result, both its existing and future product lines are dependent on substances that run the risk of becoming regulated. Therefore, Nutrien may face growing challenges in maintaining profitability in the long term. The company should set a 2030 target for the share of revenue generated by products free from hazardous chemicals and develop a strategy to achieve it. A first step should be to, similarly to Lanxess, publicly state that it will not develop or market new end-products containing more than 0.1% of substances that have the characteristics of a Substance of Very High Concern (SVHCs).

Category breakdown

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How did we come to this score?

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Company facts
Founded
2018
Headquarters
Saskatoon, Canada
Revenue
29.1 billion USD
Market capitalization
27.9 billion USD
ISIN
CA67077M1086
Category
Agro
Other years
Year Rank Total score
2024 16 / 51 16 / 48
2023 13 / 50 17 / 48
2022 13 / 54 17 / 48
2021 19 / 50 15 / 48
2020 17 / 35 14 / 48