JSC Belaruskali has been operating at 100 percent of its production capacity, and since January of this year has ramped up output from 11.5 million mt to 13.15 million mt (annual equivalent), according to state-run news agency BelTA, citing the producer’s Director General Ivan Golovaty in a meeting with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on Aug. 27.
The company boosted potash output close to 17 percent year-over-year in the January through July 2021 period, to 7.546 million mt. Exports in the period increased 10 percent year-over-year to 6.98 million mt, while sales to the domestic market rose 66 percent year-over-year, to 625,000 mt, according to the report, citing Golovaty.
He reported Belaruskali plans to increase its potash production capacities to up to 16 million mt/y by 2030, with a ramp up of output to 15.1-15.5 million mt/y by 2025, to reach the 16 million mt output target by 2030. Over the past years since 2016, production has increased from 10 million mt to 12.8 million mt, according to the report.
The company on Aug. 27 held a commissioning ceremony for the Petrikov GOK mining and processing complex in Belarus’ Gomel region, attended by Lukashenko. The date marked the seventh anniversary of when the first stone was laid to commemorate the start of construction at the site.
The mine produced its first ore in January 2020 (GM Jan. 3, 2020), and the potash processing plant was commissioned in June 2020 (GM June 12, 2020).
According to this week’s report, as of Aug. 1, 2021, Petrikov had produced 1.4 million mt of ore since its launch, and the processing plant had produced almost 158,000 mt of potash.
Petrikov has an annual potash production capacity of 1.5 million mt/y, and according to Golovaty, will be able to produce 2 million mt/y.
Belaruskali earlier this year had said it planned to reach output capacity at Petrikov by early 2022 (GM April 30, p. 31).
According to the BelTA report, the Director General, reiterated the potential to increase production up to 3 million mt/y at Petrikov, given the reserves at the site. Belaruskali previously put the mine’s potassium reserves at some 2.2 billion mt. This expansion would involve the construction of an additional shaft, he said.
The producer in May 2019 began construction of a new potash mine, Darasinsky, located in the western area of the northern section of Belarus’ Starobinsky deposit (GM May 24, 2019). In April of this year, it reported that it had begun the main stage of the operation to sink the cage shaft at the Darasinsky mine (GM April 23, p. 33).
Belaruskali is targeting a nameplate capacity of some 8 million mt/y of potash ore at Darasinsky, and has previously indicated it plans a subsequent capacity increase to 9 million mt/y.
It is unclear, however, what financing arrangements Belaruskali has in place for the development of Darasinsky, and how this funding may be impacted by the E.U. and U.S. sanctions.