ICL Group Ltd., Tel Aviv, said it has signed a long-term agreement with Indian Potash Ltd. (IPL) to supply polysulfate through 2026, with a renewal option.
The five-year term is for an aggregate amount of 1 million mt, with quantities increasing for each year of the agreement, ICL said in a June 13 statement announcing the deal.
Each shipment will be a minimum of 25,000 mt and equally distributed across the calendar year, with prices and payment terms to be fixed between IPL and ICL from time to time.
The Israeli company said the availability of polysulfate is expected to help boost the Government of India’s organic agriculture program.
ICL produces polysulfate, the marketed form of polyhalite, at its Boulby mine in northeast England.
Boulby produced 238,000 mt of polysulfate in the first quarter of this year. Output is expected to be relatively stable for the rest of 2022, and to end the year at about 1 million mt of production, ICL President and CEO Raviv Zoller told participants at a company earnings call on May 11 (GM May 13, p. 32).
The CEO told call participants that in order to reach the production targets, the company took down salt production at Boulby by 65,000 mt.
ICL Boulby early this week said it had completed a major maintenance and repair program at the site, involving a range of works in the number two shaft tower. The shaft tower services the 1,100-meter deep shaft which is used to transport men and materials to and from the mine workings.
The work will extend the life of the shaft for around 20 years, said ICL Boulby’s Head of Engineering Grahame Wallace in a June 13 statement.
ICL at the beginning of this year moved the ICL Boulby polysulfate operation from the company’s Potash business segment to its Innovative Ag Solutions (IAS) business segment. This was part of ICL’s consolidation of its specialty agriculture businesses into one segment under the IAS division, and as the company continues to focus on targeting long-term growth through its diversified specialty solutions.