Santiago-Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) reported a 23 percent increase in net income for the second quarter ending June 30, 2010, to $105 million ($.40 per share) on sales of $476.7 million, compared to the year-ago net income of $85.7 million ($.33 per share) on sales of $347.2 million. Specialty Plant Nutrition (SPN) sales moved up to $172.8 million from the year-ago $137.9 million as growers returned to more normalized rates of application. Potassium chloride and potassium sulfate sales were also up, at $117.7 million from the year-ago $87.1 million. SQM said there has been a positive shift in demand across all of its businesses, though prices this year are lower than last year. “Our expansion of potassium-based fertilizers has continued to develop according to plans, as evidenced by the completion of our 300,000 mt potassium nitrate facility in Coya Sur and the significant increase of production capacity of potassium chloride in the Salar de Atacama,” said Patricio Contesse, SQM CEO. SQM six-month net income was $181.5 million ($.69 per share) on sales of $865.3 million, versus the year-ago net income of $174.2 million ($.66 per share) on sales of $668.4 million. Six-month SPN revenues were $301 million, up from $258.6 million a year ago, while potassium chloride and SOP rose to $242.4 million from the year-ago $182.8 million.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain