MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) — Russia’s Uralkali will invest US$4.5 billion over the next five years to raise potash production capacity by 30 percent.
The move is part of an attempt to remain the world’s largest potash company, despite a setback at a major mine.
Uralkali’s capacity to produce potash came into focus after it halted production at the Solikamsk-2 mine, which was damaged by flooding in November.
“We are the industry leader and aim to maintain and strengthen our long-term prospects in the global potash market by increasing our annual production,” said Dmitry Osipov, Uralkali’s chief executive officer.
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The new production plan was announced alongside financial results for 2014, which were hit by non-cash write-offs caused by a more than 40 percent slump in the value of the ruble against the U.S. dollar.
Uralkali posted a net loss of $631 million for 2014, which was due to a foreign exchange and fair value loss on derivatives of $2 billion.
Uralkali’s revenue increased seven percent to $3.6 billion, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization increased nine percent to $1.8 billion.
The company plans to increase its annual production capacity to 14.4 million tonnes by 2020 by expanding existing operations and building new facilities. Its capacity fell to 11 million tonnes from 13 million tonnes after operations at the Solikamsk-2 ere halted.
