Kalium Lakes Ltd.,
Balcatta, Western Australia, Australia’s first producer of sulfate of potash
(SOP) through primary solar evaporation, announced on July 31 that it has
commenced delivery of standard grade SOP from the Beyondie SOP Mine to local
Western Australia fertilizer manufacturer and distributor CSBP Fertilisers as
part of the inaugural sale under its 10-year offtake agreement (90,000 mt/y) with
K+S Group (GM March 29, 2019) through
its Asian subsidiary, K+S Asia Pacific.
“We are pleased to
advise the loading of our first delivery of SOP from the Beyondie SOP Mine in
accordance with previous advice to shareholders that commercial sales were
targeted to commence in July 2022,” said Len Jubber, Kalium Lakes CEO. “This is
an important milestone in the commissioning of the Beyondie SOP Mine as the
sole Australian producer of SOP. It also heralds the start of the era of
domestic SOP production in Australia, for distribution to the Australian and
international agricultural markets.”
“As the only WA
producer of compound Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (NPK) products, CSBP
Fertilisers (CSBP) is pleased to be receiving the first tranche of locally
produced SOP, a key feedstock in the manufacture of CSBP’s premium NPK compound
fertilizer MacroPro Extra,” said Mark Scatena, CSBP Fertilisers General
Manager. “While CSBP has long maintained strong and diverse global supply
relationships, local SOP production has the potential to improve the security
of supply for WA industry, enabling CSBP to continue the local manufacture of
its premium fertilizer range tailored to WA conditions and the requirements of
WA growers.”
Kalium said
product is expected to be dispatched to CSBP over the next month, and that it
product exceeds contractual minimum grade requirements. The company expects
more of its product to be offered to local farmers for the 2023 season.
Following a
planned August plant shutdown, Kalium has targeted ramp-up for increasing
quantities to be shipped to interstate and overseas markets. It expects Beyondie to be operating at an approximate 80,000
mt/y SOP production run rate by the first quarter of calendar year 2023, with a
targeted 120,000 mt/y run rate to be established by the third quarter of
calendar year 2024
Kalium said in the
coming months it will begin fine tuning the Koppern compaction plant that was
partially commissioned in June. This is also expected to result in
higher-priced granular SOP, comprising an increasing proportion of company
sales.
