Uralkali, Moscow, will delay the full production ramp-up to design capacity at its Ust-Yaiva potash mine until 2026 and at the new SKRU-2 mine until 2027, some five years later than planned, according to Bloomberg, citing an Interfax report.
Ust-Yaiva’s planned design capacity is 2.8 million mt/y of potassium chloride, while the SKRU-2 mine’s is 2.3 million mt/y.
Interfax, citing a presentation prepared by the Perm region authorities for a meeting with Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak last week, also reported that the greenfield Polovodovo mine and processing plant project should reach its full design capacity of 2.8 million mt/y of potassium chloride in 2030.
The total cost of the four investment projects is put at an estimated RUB194.2 billion (approximately $2.99 billion), of which, according to the cited presentation, RUB29.1 billion has been spent to date.
The company’s production capacity is set to increase by 2025 through the launch of a new production line at BKPRU-4, rising by 1.5 million mt/y between 2023 and 2025.
Uralkali had not responded to Green Markets’ enquiries for confirmation on the timelines of its projects by press time.
The company produced 11.5 million mt of potassium chloride last year, down from 12 million mt in 2017, while sales fell 12 percent to 11.1 million mt, according to its annual report. It explained these decreases as due to its efforts to maximize prices by redirecting shipments to premium markets (GM May 10, p. 27).