Belaruskali to export 1 mln tonnes of potash in May-June
SOLIGORSK. May 23 (Interfax) - OJSC Belaruskali plans to keep potash fertilizer production and exports as high as possible in May and June, but says there could be some drop in the second half of 2014.
"We set a record in March - producing over 1 million tonnes and exporting around 977,000. April was around the same, May also and June," Belaruskali CEO Valery Kirienko said at a press conference in Soligorsk Thursday.
"We are already putting together a sales plan for July, in contrast to when we worked via CJSC BPC. Then we only knew the sales plan for the next month from the Russian managers on the 20th," he said.
"Of course it will not be 1 million per month all year, there will be some decline. But this year will be good for the producers and for buyers. Everything will depend on how each producer behaves," he said.
Belarusklai produced 3.38 million tonnes of potash in January-April 2014, up 17.8% year-on-year. Exports increased 41.1% to 3.06 million tonnes. Net profit grew 310% to 2.2 trillion Bel. rubles. "With supplies of 1.5 million tonnes to the domestic market and exports of 7.2 million tonnes, we expect to obtain net profit of around 4 trillion rubles in the year," Kirienko said.
Belaruskali invested 999 billion Bel. rubles in fixed capital in January-April 2014, up 67.7%. Fixed capital investment will increase in the second half. Investment for the year will be around $250 million.
"We are expanding the capacity of granular systems and expanding production of NPK fertilizer. Earlier we spent $400 million on the investment program per year," Kirienko said.
The official exchange rate on May 22 stood at 10,040 Bel. rubles/$1.
