Compass Minerals, Overland Park, Kan., announced Oct. 23 that production rates at its Goderich, Ont., salt mine were lower-than-expected for the third quarter of 2018. As a result, the company now expects full-year earnings per share to range from $2.20-$2.50, down from the earlier $2.75-$3.25. However, the company said Plant Nutrition business has executed well and is expected to deliver strong third-quarter 2018 results.
The company estimates a negative impact of $15 million to third-quarter 2018 Salt segment earnings related to the cost impact of the lower production rates.
The Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Ma’aden), Riyadh, said it has awarded Daelim with a Sar3.35 billion ($892 million) engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build an ammonia plant at Ras Al-Khair on the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia. The new facility is the first plant to begin construction at the company’s planned third large-scale phosphate complex, ‘Phosphate 3.’
Upon completion of Phosphate 3, Ma’aden will increase its capacity to supply phosphate fertilizer to global markets by 3 million mt/y, with total production capacity of nearly 9 million mt/y, making Saudi Arabia the world’s third largest producer of phosphate fertilizer and the second largest exporter, the company said.
Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd., South Korea, and Saudi Daelim Ltd. will jointly carry out the EPC for the construction of the 1.1 million mt/y ammonia plant, which will be implemented over 38 months.
The Phosphate 3 project is expected to cost Sar24 billion ($6.4 billion), and generate non-oil GDP growth of Sar25 billion ($ 6.7 billion) and approximately 7,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Chile’s Constitutional Court on Oct. 22 postponed a decision on appeal to stop entry of China’s Tianqi Lithium Corp. from acquiring stake in SQM from Nutrien Ltd., according to Bloomberg. However, the Court is expected to take up the decision again on Oct. 25.
Both Nutrien and Tianqi Lithium expect to close the deal in the fourth quarter. Nutrien denied Chilean news reports that it has asked Indian authorities for an extension of its 18-month agreement to sell its SQM stake. The agreement ends in April 2019.
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