Santiago — Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) reported a 15 percent increase in net income for the third quarter ending Sept. 30, 2012, to $165.2 million ($0.63 per share) on revenues of $615.3 million, versus the year-ago $143.2 million ($0.54 per share) on revenues of $574.7 million. SQM said margins were driven primarily by increased prices in iodine and increased sales volumes in potassium, lithium, and industrial chemicals. “These strong results though, pose a new set of challenges for the next months,” said Patricio Contesse, SQM CEO. “On one hand, the potash price environment has been relatively unstable in the past weeks and difficult to predict for the near future. On the other hand, European economy slowdown is starting to show some effect in volumes across all our business lines. However, our unique commercial flexibility and operational synergies will allow us to continue maintaining our competitive advantage and to react and benefit to changing market needs.” Specialty Plant Nutrition (SPN) sales were off at $162 million from $183.2 million, while Potassium Chloride/Sulfate were as well – $131.3 million versus $152.7 million. SQM nine-month income was up 31.2 percent, to $507.4 million ($1.93 per share) on revenues of $1.83 billion versus the year-ago $386.9 million ($1.47 per share) and $1.61 billion, respectively. Nine-month SPN sales were off at $515.9 million from $547.1 million, with sales volumes off 9 percent. SQM noted that a competitor, presumably Haifa Chemical, had returned to normal production levels. Potassium Chloride/Sulfate was up at $456.6 million from $426 million, with volumes up over 5 percent. Year-to-date, SQM says its potash prices have remained stable, though they have fallen in other markets.
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