Jordan’s Arab Potash 2017 net profit up 41% on healthy demand

LONDON (ICIS)–Arab Potash Company (APC) has announced a 41% year on year increase in net profits for 2017, banking Jordanian dinar (JD) 90.4m ($127.5m) after taxes, provisions, and mining royalties, the mineral fertilizers producer said on Monday.

The company, which primarily produces muriate of potash (MOP) for export, sold 2.36m tonnes of the crop nutrient last year – an increase of 16% from its 2016 total, and a new record for APC’s operations.

APC’s consolidated sales revenues hit JD423m last year, up 15% from 2016’s JD370m.

The company’s chairman Jamal Al-Sarayrah attributed the rise in sales to stronger demand in key markets, including China and India, as well as steadily increasing potash prices.

Arab Potash’s production capacity is now more than 500,000 tonnes/year, according to Al-Sarayrah, who added that the firm had cut 11% off its cost per tonne production ratio through savings related to the use of natural gas as an alternative to heavier fuels.

Pictured: The Dead Sea’s coast line nearby the Arab Potash facilities in Safi, Jordan
Source: Sipa Press/REX/Shutterstock

(JD1 = $1.41)