Descent to the source of the quality mineral potassium CULTIVATION AND TECHNOLOGY Jaap Brink tells the people of the ABN AMRO Bank and chips manufacturer Lamb Weston Meijer (LWM) that traditional potash fertilisation still has a future. EuroChem and 75 percent are freely marketable on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. K+S are the fourth player in the domain of potassium production in the world with a market share of 12 percent. K+S extract traditional fertilisation in two applications, one with potassium sulphate and the other with nitrogen? Is that saving labour? Well, what about going back to work again to earn some money’, says Brink resolutely, pointing to the costs of trends and hypes within the world of fertilisation. Back to Basics is his line. ‘Especially if you want to keep the cost price in hand’, he adds coyly. Potassium results in positive operating result Brink confirms that fertilisation with potassium is also quite expensive at the moment. A few years ago, Potash-60 cost about twenty euros. That has risen to more than sixty euros per ton. The LWM agronomists acknowledge that, in practice, growers are applying less potassium than they used to. Under the terms of the increasing importance of quality deliveries, this is a highly undesirable situation, in the opinion of the representatives of the industry. Friedhelm Mester of K+S KALI’s Market Research and Trade Policy department, when asked, does not foresee a drop in price, despite the current declining demand in the world market. He only signals an enormous increase in demand worldwide. His view is that the increase in the cereal price has made it attractive again to fertilise a crop generously in order to get a maximum yield. This effect could also be seen in the price of nitrogen fertilisers. However, the price of nitrogen fertiliser has recently dropped sharply. A cooperative such as CZAV has already adjusted the price downwards enormously this winter. The price for potassium has been quite stable, though. The increasing demand for potassium fertiliser has resulted in the financial turnover of potassium fertiliser increasing by 35 percent in the first 9 months of the year 2008, as compared to the total for the year 2007. The pre-tax profit was still 177.9 million euros in 2007 and after 9 months in 2008 this was already more than 927 million euros. Not a bad result for the shareholders of the listed companies in the current financial crisis. Of the K+S Group shares, 10 percent are in the hands of BASF, 15 percent in the hands of the Russian company approximately 38.9 million tons of mineral rock from the depths of the earth every year. This mountain of rock is turned into around 8.1 million tons of potassium and magnesium products. The remainder is waste and has resulted in a mountain scenery in the surrounding area of Merkers. In addition to fertiliser, Brink sees a development whereby potassium will increasingly be used as a replacement for sodium in the kitchen. ‘Household salt has all kinds of disadvantages for one’s health that potassium chloride does not have’, explains Brink. ‘Potassium chloride, for example, causes blood pressure to lower, as a result of which health problems such as cardiovascular diseases are reduced.’ ● Jaap Delleman Evaporation by sun warmth Sandbank Salty sea Inside sea Potassium depostion Salt depostion Like a pot on a stove, the water very slowly evaporated over many millions of years leaving the salt behind. Potato World 2009 • number 2 21 Pagina 20
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