Far Eastern demand soars for fertiliser mine’s product

ICL Boulby, which mines the mineral polyhalite, has reported a major increase in demand for its products in China.

Andrew Fulton, vice president and general manager at the East Cleveland mine, revealed contracts for the year signed with customers in China represent a 30% growth compared to 2019,

He said this was further evidence of the benefits which polyhalite – marketed as ICL Polysulphate – can offer to agriculture.

Fulton added: “Last year, the first full year since we made the transition from potash to mining polyhalite, we made great strides forward, thanks to everyone working here at Boulby and the support from our parent company both in marketing and developing products to meet the needs of farmers and growers in many different countries.

“The benefits of using polysulphate’s unique combination of four nutrients needed for plant growth and yield have generated great interest in China where, with a population approaching 1.5 billion, there is a huge need to increase food production.

“The boost in demand in China is reflected in many other countries and is a clear vote of confidence in our plans for increased production in 2020, with a target of moving to a million tonnes for the year.”