A legacy for the future K+S KALI

A LEGACY FOR THE FUTURE

K+S KALI GmbH is one of Europe’s leading potash producers. The company belongs to the K+S Group, a company that is mining and processing potash, magnesium, sulphur and sodium containing crude salts. K+S KALI manufactures fertilisers containing potash and magnesium for agricultural use as well as products for technical and industrial purposes. Joseph Altham contacted Dr Ernst Andres, member of the board of management of K+S KALI GmbH, to find out how K+S KALI’s fertilisers are helping to create a more efficient and sustainable agriculture.

K+ S KALI’s fertilisers help to improve the quality and yield of agricultural crops all over the world. The company’s products are also used in many different industrial applications, including the production of rayon and detergent. In addition, K + S KALI manufactures potassium and magnesium salts for the healthcare and food sector, as well as mineral salts that are used to produce animal feed.

K + S KALI is both a mining and a manufacturing operation. The K + S Group company is based in Kassel, in the German state of Hesse, and has potash mines in Hesse, Thuringia, Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. Potash (potassium salts) can be found deep underground because it was deposited there millions of years ago as a result of the evaporation of seawater. According to the “bar theory” of the German geologist, Carl Ochsenius, much of central Europe was once covered by an inland sea that was separated from the ocean by narrow straits or bars. Over time, this inland sea became more salty and then entirely evaporated, leaving behind salts that were then covered over by further geological layers. K + S KALI mines the potash and other rock salts and then turns them into fertilisers. These minerals are essential plant nutrients, and fertilisers give plants more of the potassium and magnesium they need in order to carry out vital functions such as photosynthesis and the transport and storage of carbohydrates.

The experts

K + S KALI brands itself as “the authority in potassium and magnesium”, a claim that is based both on the company’s size and on the expert advice it offers to farmers. K+S KALI employs 7900 people and is the world’s fourth-largest producer of potassium products, with a market share of about 11 per cent. Dr Andres stated that K + S KALI has an annual production capacity of about 7.5 million tonnes for potash and magnesium products.

“Potassium chloride is the top-selling product,” he said. “This fertiliser, with universal areas of application, is used globally, in particular for major crops such as cereals, corn, rice and soy beans. Potassium chloride is directly spread on fields as a granular product or mixed with other straight fertilisers in bulk blends.”

K + S KALI traces its origins back to the late-nineteenth century when the German potash industry was born. The knowledge accumulated from more than 150 years in German potash mining shapes the day-to-day operations. This long-lasting experience led to the invention of highly specialised fertilizers.

Markets

As well as potassium chloride, the company produces speciality fertilisers containing besides potassium magnesium, sulphur and various trace elements. Korn-Kali®, Patentkali® and ESTA®Kieserite are well-known brands worldwide. K + S KALI carries out intensive research to ensure that its fertilisers contain the right nutrient formula for the crop variety for which they are intended. The company cooperates with universities and is a member of the International Plant Nutrition

Dr. Ernst Andres Dr. Ernst Andres K+S KALI GmbH K+S KALI GmbH

Institute (IPNI). The new joint research institute IAPN (Institute of Applied Plant Nutrition), founded by the University of Göttingen and K+S KALI GmbH in 2010, focuses on practice-oriented research on plant nutrition

The company offers expert advice to farmers, helping them to work out a nutrient management plan that takes local soil conditions into account. “Our global network of consultants delivers this knowledge of efficient and sustainable plant nutrition to farmers and growers,” stated Dr Andres.

K + S KALI has sales offices throughout Europe and overseas and ships potash as far as Asia and Brazil from its Kalikai terminal in the port of Hamburg. “The business segment achieves slightly more than half of its revenues in Europe,” said Dr Andres. “Here it benefits from the fact that the production sites are very attractively positioned in relation to the customers in terms of freight costs. The business segment also has a significant market position in the southern hemisphere.”

Trends

The world’s population is growing at a rate of 80 million people every year. Despite decreasing availability of arable farm land, global production of agricultural products has to be increased because of the steadily increasing world population and changing diets toward higher meat consumption. At the same time, demand for biofuels is rising as oil becomes harder to reach and more expensive to produce. More fertiliser will therefore be needed in order to make more efficient use of arable land, and K + S KALI expects demand for potash to continue to rise.

At the beginning of 2011, K + S Group acquired the Canadian company Potash One. As a result, K + S holds several mining leases and exploration licences in Saskatchewan, where it intends to build a new potash mine, a plan known as the Legacy Project which is expected to become operational no earlier than 2015.

K + S believes that by acquiring and exploiting these new potash reserves, it can make itself more competitive in international markets. “The business segment will in the future have the possibility to increase its production capacity over the long term by at least 2.7 million tonnes,” stated Dr Andres. “We think we are well-positioned for the future.” n