Sweden’s Cinis Fertilizer reported on May 8 that production of sulfate of potash (SOP) fertilizer has started as the company’s first production facility in Köpmanholmen, just outside of Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. Cinis broke ground in February 2023 at the site, which will have a production capacity of 100,000 mt/y.
“The fact that we are the first to produce a mineral fertilizer with a low climate footprint in Sweden feels like history in the making,” said Cinis CEO and Founder Jakob Liedberg. “There is a huge demand for fossil-free produced mineral fertilizer, both in Sweden and in the world. This is an important milestone in agriculture’s green transition.”
Liedberg said production will gradually increase over the coming weeks, with full production planned for the second half of 2024. All SOP from the Örnsköldsvik facility will be delivered to the Dutch fertilizer producer Van Iperen International, with the first delivery planned for the second quarter of 2024.
“50 years after Sweden surprised the world with ABBA, it is now reshaping the global fertilizer industry with the first fully sustainable SOP fertilizer and we are very proud to be part of it,” said says Erik van den Bergh, CEO of Van Iperen. “As marketing partner of Cinis Fertilizer, we very much believe in this beautiful project.”
Cinis produces SOP using a patented technology that recycles waste products from battery manufacturing, as well as from the pulp and other industries. The company is planning a second 200,000 mt/y SOP plant in Bergsbyn, Sweden (GM June 23, 2023), and announced in September that it will build a 300,000 mt/y SOP plant in Hopkinsville, Ky., with production slated for 2026 (GM Sept. 22, 2023).