Intrepid Potash Inc. posted a third-quarter net loss of $7.2 million on total sales of $54.5 million, down from the year-ago net income of $13.1 million and $74.8 million, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA slipped to $2.2 million versus the year-ago $27 million.
Potash sales volumes of 46,000 st matched the year-ago amount, while Trio® posted an increase to 52,000 st from 39,000 st. Third-quarter net realized sales prices for potash and Trioaveraged $433/st and $298/st, which compares to the year-ago $734/st and $488/st, respectively.
“Our third-quarter results were highlighted by strong sales of potash and Trioand our volumes for the first nine months of the year remain well ahead of last year’s pace,” said Bob Jornayvaz, Intrepid Executive Chairman. “Farmer economics continue to be supported by elevated futures prices compared to historical levels, while attractive fertilizer pricing in the eyes of growers remains a key driver of demand.”
Jornayvaz said the company has seen “modest improvements” in market pricing for potash since early August, with all signs pointing to a robust fall application season. “Moreover, our logistics and transportation advantages, as well as diversified sales into other markets like feed, continue to help drive our netbacks to levels above industry benchmark pricing,” he said.
“While our financial results have experienced headwinds as we work through higher carrying costs for our potash and Trio, we remain focused on improving our potash unit economics by means of higher production,” Jornayvaz added, noting the recent commissioning of the Eddy Shaft Brine Extraction project at Intrepid’s HB site (GM Nov. 3, p. 28).
“This project serves as an important bridge to higher potash production in the near-term as we are already extracting high-grade brine that will start to meaningfully contribute to product tons starting in the second half of next year,” he said.
“We want to be clear that the capital spending for our potash projects at HB, Moab, and Wendover is designed to have a long-term, sustained impact on returning our potash production to historical highs, but we do have the added benefit of also being able to target near-term tons as we go through the normal brine injection, extraction, and production cycle,” he added.
Company-wide, Intrepid posted nine-month net income of $1.62 million on sales of $222.4 million, down from the year-ago $68.2 million and $270.9 million, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA was $34.4 million, down from $118.6 million.
| Potash | 3Q-23 | 3Q-22 | YTD-23 | YTD-22 |
| Sales (000 st) | 27,602 | 42,354 | 127,363 | 147,622 |
| Gross Margin ($000) | 3,411 | 19,872 | 30,716 | 73,862 |
| Sales Volume (000 st) | 46 | 46 | 213 | 172 |
| Production Vol. (000 st) | 43 | 36 | 145 | 164 |
| Avg Realized Price ($/st) | 433 | 734 | 474 | 718 |
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| Trio | 3Q-23 | 3Q-22 | YTD-23 | YTD-22 |
| Sales (000 st) | 22,030 | 24,043 | 81,052 | 100,561 |
| Gross Margin ($000) | (4,290) | 6,503 | (1,617) | 35,694 |
| Sales Volume (000 st) | 52 | 39 | 179 | 169 |
| Production Vol. (000 st) | 52 | 52 | 159 | 175 |
| Avg Realized Price ($/st) | 298 | 488 | 329 | 482 |
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| Oilfield Solutions | 3Q-23 | 3Q-22 | YTD-23 | YTD-22 |
| Sales (000 st) | 4,904 | 8,423 | 14,265 | 22,936 |
| Gross Margin ($000) | 1,370 | 395 | 3,126 | 6,201 |