Arab Potash transfers JD26m to Treasury

AMMAN — The Arab Potash Company (APC) on Sunday transferred a total of JD26 million to the Treasury.

APC Chairman of the Board of Directors Jamal Al Sarayrah was quoted in a statement as saying that another JD10 million will be transferred to the Social Security Corporation next week, which is the corporation’s share in the APC’s 2018 profits.

The government’s total revenues for its shares in the APC as well as mining fees and income tax totalled JD71 million, which has been completely transferred to the Treasury, the statement said.

The APC announced in February that its net profit after taxes, provisions and royalties amounted to JD125 million in 2018, recording an increase of 39 per cent from 2017’s JD90 million.

Sarayrah said at the time that the company “has achieved a significant progress towards reducing production cost per tonne”, explaining that production cost of potash has decreased by 31 per cent per tonne since 2013.

The chairman attributed the reduction in production costs primarily to the savings achieved in water and energy use, which coincided with the record production volumes achieved in 2018, reaching 2.436 million tonnes — “the highest recorded volume in the company’s history”.

“Also, the APC has succeeded in utilising marketing strategy that enabled the company to achieve unprecedented sales volume of potash that reached 2.439 million tonnes,” Sarayrah added.

The chairman noted that the increase in the company’s profits has “enabled the APC to maintain its leading position as a major provider of income and returns to the Treasury”, putting the value of payments to the Treasury at JD71 million in 2018, an increase of 22 per cent from 2017.