Santiago-Fourth-quarter net income for Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) was up 34.1 percent to $105.8 million ($.40 per share) on sales of $505.7 million, compared to the year-ago $78.9 million ($.30 per share) on sales of $386.5 million. Full-year earnings were up 13 percent to $382.1 million ($1.45 per share) on sales of $1.83 billion, up from the prior year’s $338.3 million ($1.29 per share). “After consistent performance in each quarter of the year, we finished 2010 with solid results,’ said Patricio Contesse, SQM CEO. “We observed strong volumes across all of our product lines as market conditions in all of our business segments surpassed our initial expectations for 2010, moving past 2009 lows. We observed healthy volume recovery that in some cases exceeded pre-crisis levels. In fact, we posted record sales volumes in our iodine and lithium businesses, which reflects the strong fundamentals of our markets.” Fourth-quarter specialty plant nutrition (SPN) revenues were $151.2 million, up from the year-ago $126.6 million. Full-year SPN revenues were $603.7 million, up from $527 million. The potassium chloride/potassium sulfate segment sales surpassed those of SPN in the fourth quarter, to $171.4 million versus the year-ago $112 million. Full-year sales were $528.2 million, up from the year-ago $399.1 million.
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