Compass Minerals, Overland Park, Kan., on April 12 reported below-average winter weather activity for the first quarter, with 11 cities in its North American highway deicing service reporting 100 snow events during the first quarter, roughly 8 percent below the 10-year average, but 18 percent above first-quarter 2020 results.
Compass said it sold approximately 4.6 million tons of highway deicing salt products in the first quarter of 2021, compared to 3.1 million tons in the prior-year period. This total includes all highway maintenance products sold in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., as well as rock salt sold to the chemical industry. Sales of all salt products totaled roughly 5.0 million tons in the 2021 period, compared with 3.6 million tons in the first quarter of 2020.
“Despite below-average snow activity for the first quarter, we experienced solid demand from our U.S. highway deicing customer portfolio as a number of ice storms impacted our markets in addition to the snow event activity in the first quarter,” said Kevin S. Crutchfield, President and CEO. “We expect this healthy start to the year likely normalized customer inventories throughout North America, setting up a constructive backdrop for the upcoming bid season. Comparatively, this represents the highest first-quarter sales volumes for our highway deicing products since 2014.”
The company said it also achieved other milestones in recent weeks, including two announced definitive sale agreements to optimize its asset portfolio, and the successful negotiation of a new, five-year collective bargaining agreement at its Goderich mine. “Through these strategic actions, I believe we are building positive momentum as we head into the remainder of 2021,” Crutchfield said.