K+S Group, Kassel, Germany, has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Swedish green tech company Cinis Fertilizer, Lund, for future cooperation in the synthetic production of sulfate of potash (SOP). K+S would supply Cinis with potassium chloride, and in return K+S could purchase up to 600,000 mt/y of SOP from Cinis.
“The agreement fits perfectly with our new corporate strategy, which includes the expansion of our core business through cooperation,” said K+S Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors Dr. Burkhard Lohr. “As a result, K+S will secure additional quantities of the specialty fertilizer potassium sulfate. K+S will therefore be in an even better position to supply its customers, as well as to acquire new customers.”
“We are very proud to announce our cooperation with such a well renowned company as K+S,” said Jakob Liedberg, Cinis CEO and Founder. “This partnership will, together with our already signed intake and offtake agreements for our first two plants, secure both the MOP intake and the SOP offtake for our first four production plants, de-risking our business plan even further and proving that the fertilizer industry is ready for a more sustainable product.”
Cinis said the LOI states that K+S has the intention to buy the full SOP capacity from Cinis’s third and fourth production facilities, starting from 2026. The two production facilities are expected to reach full production of 600,000 mt/y of SOP in 2028.
Cinis is planning the synthetic production of SOP using the Glaserite process at several production sites in Scandinavia. In addition to potassium chloride supplied by K+S, the company will use residues from battery, pulp, and paper production as raw material and renewable energy. Salt is also generated as a byproduct in the SOP production.
K+S will supply up to 100% of the MOP needed for Cinis’s first four planned production facilities. In addition, it plans to buy the complete volume of salt from the first two plants, which are located in Örnsköldsvik and Skellefteå.
The parties said they will now continue the work to conclude binding agreements in the short-term, which will lead to a long-term relationship. The agreements are intended to be long-term for MOP, SOP, and salt.
As previously reported, The Netherlands-based Van Iperen International BV has exclusive rights to the SOP from the first two plants (GM Oct. 22, 2021). The company’s first 100,000 mt/y plant is expected up in second-half 2023, while the second will come on in mid-2025, with a capacity of 200,000 mt/y (GM May 20, p. 31).