APC to export red potash to south America this month — chairman

AMMAN — The Arab Potash Company (APC) will begin exporting red granular potash to south America this month, the company's chairman has recently said.

During a press conference on Sunday, APC’s Chairman of the Board of Directors Jamal Al Sarayrah announced that the company has begun producing red granular potash, which, he said, would open new markets to the company and diversify its customer base, reducing the company’s market and geographical risk exposure. 

Sarayrah added that entering these new markets will enable the company to sell its products at higher prices, which will have a positive impact on the APC's profits.

Sarayrah noted that the company has the raw materials needed to produce specialty and soluble fertilisers, for which the global demand has grown by 5-7 per cent, and which have high price margins compared to APC’s standard products.

The chairman also said that APC’s plans to expand in producing specialty fertilisers will attract new investments and, consequently, create new job opportunities for Jordanians, who, he said, constitute 100 per cent of the company's workforce.

Sarayrah touched on the company’s expansion plans, saying that an agreement has been signed with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to finance studies on the economic feasibility of extracting potash from Al Lisan area near the Dead Sea. 

Initial studies indicate that there are huge deposits of potash in the area in question, which will be extracted if the current economic and technical studies prove it to be feasible, noting that the expected cost of the technical study of JD12 million will be covered by the company, he added.

Sarayrah also said that the company has floated a tender to conduct a technical and financial feasibility study in the Ghour Fifa region to the south of the Dead Sea, which is expected to produce 450,000 tonnes of potash annually.

The chairman said that the company’s net profit after taxes, provisions and royalties amounted to JD78.2 million during the first six months of 2019, recording an increase of 48 per cent from the JD52.7 million profits achieved during the same period last year. 

Sarayrah attributed the increase in profits primarily to a 113-per cent growth in operating profits over the same period last year.

The chairman highlighted that the reduction in production costs, the slight rise in international potash prices and the record production volumes and sales all played a role in increasing APC’s profit margins.

For his part, APC President and CEO Maen Nsour said that during the first half of 2019, APC produced a historical record of 1.28 million tonnes of potash compared with 1.21 million tonnes produced during the same period in 2018, while sales during this period also reached a record high of 1.24 million tonnes — an increase of 3.6 per cent over the same period last year.

Nsour added that the company has started producing new grades of potash to be exported to new, promising markets such as south America and countries in the Far East.

The CEO emphasised that the company plays a major role in contributing to the overall economic situation of Jordan and alluded to the fact that in 2018 it paid around JD72 million in taxes and royalties and pointed that this figure is expected to rise to over JD100 million in 2019.

Nsour also mentioned that the company is scheduled to renew its strategic plan for the next 10 years, taking into consideration the dynamic changes in fertiliser production and the development of the potash industry worldwide.