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.