K+S to cut production
K+S Group said today that potash production at the Hattorf and Unterbreizbach sites will be temporarily suspended starting April 1. The company cited the low level of precipitation over the past few weeks and the current limitations on discharging wastewater into the Werra River.
K+S noted that until a final decision is made on the application filed by K+S for continuing the practice of injection until the end of 2021, this means of disposal is only available to the company to a very limited extent. Since a government decision in December 2015, the disposal of saline wastewater is closely dependent on the flow of water in the Werra and the capacity of the available retention basins.
K+S said some 650 employees are affected at the Hessen sites of Hattorf and the Hattorf-Wintershall mine as well as approximately 300 employees at Thuringian sites of Unterbreizbach and Merkers. Production will continue at the Wintershall site for the time being.
K+S said the situation will change depending on the weather and there was no estimate of how much production would be impacted as a result. The company said that it would do its best to make sure that customers were not impacted.
“Unfortunately, this step is unavoidable. We are aware that we are demanding a lot of our employees in the current situation and we are grateful for their understanding,” said plant manager Roland Keidel.
Following the completion of a specialist review by the relevant agency, K+S continues to expect a final decision to be made in the summer of this year on the application filed in April 2015 seeking the continuation of the practice of injection until the end of 2021.
“It is very important for the Werra plant and for our employees to receive an injection permit of sufficient scope as soon as possible,” said Dr. Rainer Gerling, the managing director of K+S KALI GmbH. “We are using all the means at our disposal to support the work of the agency to complete its review of our injection application so that we once again have sufficient disposal means as quickly as possible.”