Tel Aviv-ICL Fertilizers, a segment of Israel Chemicals Ltd., saw a 66.6 percent drop in operating income for the third quarter ending Sept. 30, 2009, to $253.5 million on sales of $677.1 million, compared to the year-ago $759.3 million and $1.44 billion, respectively. While results were off compared to the stellar performance in 2008, ICL noted that third-quarter fertilizer income was up 134 percent and sales were up 46 percent from second quarter 2009. The company cited the resumption of shipments to primary customers in India and an accelerated rate of shipments to Brazil. Nine-month income was $503.8 million on sales of $1.5 billion, versus the year-ago $1.9 billion and $3.74 billion. Company-wide, ICL reported third-quarter net income to shareholders of $256.6 million on sales of $1.35 billion, compared to the year-ago $778.6 million and $2.2 billion. Nine-month net income was $567.7 million on sales of $3.33 billion, versus the year-ago $1.83 billion and $5.78 billion.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain