BPC to deliver up to 700,000 tonnes of potash to Bangladesh in 2012
MINSK. Nov 13 (Interfax) - CJSC Belarus Potash Company (BPC), which is the trader for Uralkali and Belaruskali on export markets, has acknowledged Bangladesh as a strategically important market to which it plans to deliver up to 700,000 tonnes of potash this year.
"We have long had warm partnership relations with Bangladesh. We have been working on this market since the moment of BPC's foundation, and we consider it to be a strategically important area. This year we plan to deliver up to 700,000 tonnes of potash to Bangladeshi consumers," BPC's press officer Filipp Gritskov told Interfax.
During a previous visit that Belarusian Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich paid to Bangladesh, Bangladeshi Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury said that her country is interested in boosting imports of potash from Belarus.
"We started importing Belarusian potash in 2008 and are increasing imports each year. I hope that this cooperation will develop," Chowdhury said.
As reported, BPC has been forced to postpone the signing of new contracts with China and India, which are its key partners, to the end of this year.
BPC's chief Valery Ivanov said that the company plans to deliver 3.5 million tonnes of potash to China and around 2.5 million tonnes to India in 2013. The situation with exports was complicated this year. "I think that potash sales volumes will grow next year. We are tasking ourselves with reaching the 2011 level because it was record in terms of sales. However, they might even excel and we might sell more than we did in 2011," Ivanov said.
Last year, BPC exported a combined 12.9 million tonnes of potash (up 15.2%) and generated $5.3 billion in foreign exchange earnings (up 60%).
BPC is the exclusive exporter of potash produced by Belaruskali and Uralkali, which founded the company on an equal footing in December 2005. At the moment, BPC's shareholders are Belaruskali (45%), Belarusian Railways (5%) and Uralkali (50%).
BPC accounts for 43% of global potash exports.