TEL AVIV, Israel, January 17, 2013 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- ICL (tase:ICL), a multinational fertilizer and specialty chemicals company, today announced that it has signed framework agreements to supply its customers in China with an aggregate 3.3 million metric tons of potash over the next three years. According to the terms of the agreements, the potash selling price for each semester will be set in line with prevailing market prices and arrangements in China.
The scale and term of these agreements demonstrates the trust that has been nurtured and developed between ICL Fertilizers and its growing roster of Chinese customers, together with the desire of all parties to assure uninterrupted multi-year cooperation. The quantities indicated in these agreements reinforces and extends ICL Fertilizers' standing as one of the world's central suppliers of potash to China, a massive, rapidly growing potash market. With a population of 1.35 billion people, Chinese farmers need ever-increasing amounts of potash to be able to supply more high-quality food, especially in light of the region's rising standard of living and evolving dietary habits. As such, ICL Fertilizers contributes to China's ability to feed its population.
Under the framework of these agreements, ICL Fertilizers has committed to deliver 660,000 metric tons of potash during the first half of 2013. The selling price of these quantities will be in line with recent deals completed by other potash suppliers to the Chinese market.
Although ICL Fertilizers operates potash mines in Spain and England, the majority of the potash that ICL sells to China is produced from Israel's Dead Sea and exported through the Israel's Red Sea Port of Eilat. This gives ICL Fertilizers a logistical advantage for shipping potash to Southeast Asia as compared to most of its competitors.
In 2010, ICL Fertilizers adopted a new sales and marketing strategy for its activities in China, according to which it began selling directly to fertilizer producers and distributors. As a result, ICL Fertilizers has succeeded in increasing the number of its customers in China and expanded the basket of products that it sells to the Chinese market, as demonstrated by the 2013-2015 framework agreements.
Commenting on the news, Mr. Dani Chen, CEO of ICL Fertilizers, said, "The scope of these multi-year framework agreements with our customers in China demonstrates once again China's need for significant quantities of potash to feed its huge and rapidly-growing population. ICL is proud to play a vital role in the global agriculture market, helping to increase the food supplies available for China and the world at large.
"The milestone accomplishments of these agreements, including our growing customer base in the Chinese market, our expanding basket of potash products sold in significant quantities and the multi-year terms of the contracts, all demonstrate our successful strategy aimed at reinforcing and deepening our positioning in the Chinese market. We are grateful for the trust that our Chinese customers have granted us and pledge to continue being an efficient, responsive, creative and trustworthy supplier in order to continue strengthening our relationships in the future."
About ICL
ICL is one of the world's leading fertilizer and specialty chemicals companies. For a world challenged by population growth and scarce resources, ICL makes products that increase global food and water supplies and improve industrial materials and processes.
ICL produces approximately a third of the world's bromine and is the 6th largest potash producer in the world. ICL is a leading supplier of fertilizers in Europe and a major player in specialty fertilizer market segments. One of the world's most integrated manufacturers and suppliers of phosphate products, ICL has become the world's leading provider of pure phosphoric acid and a major specialty phosphate player.
ICL is comprised of three core segments: ICL Fertilizers, ICL Industrial Products and ICL Performance Products. Its major production activities are located in Israel, Europe, the US, South America and China, and are supported by major global marketing and logistics networks. ICL benefits from exclusive concessions to extract minerals from Israel's Dead Sea, a vast source of high-quality and low-cost potash, bromine, magnesium chloride and sodium chloride. ICL also mines phosphate rock from Israel's Negev Desert and potash and salt from its mines in Spain and the UK.
ICL's shares are traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (tase:ICL).
PRESS CONTACT Fleisher Communications and Public Relations Amiram Fleisher +972-3-6241241 amiram@fleisher-pr.com
SOURCE ICL - Israel Chemicals Ltd
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