K+S Aktiengesellschaft, the German fertilizer and salt producer, posted second-quarter EBITDA of €128 million ($141 million), up sharply from €24 million ($26.5 million) in last year’s second quarter. K+S cited a significant increase in sales of fertilizer specialties, a strong European fertilizer business, and improved demand for chemical and industrial products.
“Both our European business and the share of fertilizer specialties continued to be strong in the second quarter, so that we can look back on a robust first half of the year overall,” said Dr. Burkhard Lohr, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors. “For the full year 2024, we confirm our expectations for free cash flow and are now specifying the EBITDA forecast at between €530 million and €620 million.”
In the Agriculture customer segment, revenues increased to €616 million in the second quarter, up 11% from €557 million last year. Lower average prices were offset by significantly higher sales volumes, particularly for fertilizer specialties. Revenues in Europe rose to €271 million and sales volumes totaled 1.84 million mt for the quarter, up more than 200,000 mt from last year.
Revenues
for the first half of the year were €1.86 million, down 7% from last year’s €2.01
million.
K+S said it expects
stable pricing in the Agriculture segment with sales volumes of 7.4-7.7 million
mt for the full year, while noting that an oversupply of the potash market is
not expected for the year as a whole.