Arab Potash : makes a JD32.3 M net profit at end of the 1st Quarter of 2015, a 40% increase over last year

3/5/2015

Al Sarayrah: APC kept its alliances with key markets and customers and continued to achieve profits

Al Sarayrah: Future plans focus on expansion of production and introduction of alternative energy sources

Amman - 5/3/2015: The Arab Potash Company (APC) achieved a net profit in the first quarter of 2015 of JD 32.3 million after taxes and provisions, which amounts to a 40% increase from the same period of 2014, when net profit amounted to JD 23.1 million.

Chairman of the Board Mr. Jamal Al Sarayrah said that APC achieved a significant improvement in the cost of production per ton, which decreased during the first quarter of this year due to lower fuel and shipping costs and as a result of the production and inventory management policies implemented by the Company.

The future outlook for APC activities, according to Mr. Jamal Al Sarayrah, are positive: All indicators show that the global potash market is stabilizing after the shock of the past few years. The average global sale price increased to approximately US $316 in the first quarter of this year compared with US $300 in the first quarter of 2014. Mr. Al Sarayrah also emphasized the importance of the agreement between APC and Sinochem to provide not less than 600,000 metric tons of potash to China during 2015 in addition to the amounts to be determined optionally. The agreement was pursuant to the MoU signed with Sinochem on the margin of the visit by His Majesty King Abdullah II to the People's Republic of China in 2013.

These successes have enabled APC to maintain its leading role in supporting local community development and the improvement of services to these communities, which is among APC's most important corporate values. The Company provided JD 7.5 million in 2014 for local community development in its corporate social responsibility program, which focuses on sustainable projects that bring long-term benefit to Jordanian citizens and introducing new projects that complement the accomplishments of the past two years when APC provided JD 10 million per year in 2012 and 2013.

Mr. Jamal AL Sarayrah also said that APC's future plans focus on investing in expanding the Company's asset base in Jordan, for which a total of about US $1 billion was allocated in future budget estimates for capital projects that will be completed over the next 4-7 years. Among the most important of these projects will be the expansion in the production of potash to increase production capacity by 245,000 tons in response to market expectations, which indicate an increase in demand for potash over the long term, in addition to raising the production capacity of granular potash by 250,000 tons per year. Also, KEMAPCO (APC wholly owned subsidiary) approved plans to raise the production of potassium nitrate from 135,000 tons to 175,000 tons per year.

CEO Brent Heimann added that important projects also include diversifying energy sources and increasing dependence on renewable energy. It was decided to proceed with a project to generate electricity from solar cells at a capacity of 33 MW, which will be completed within two years. Studies are also ongoing for another project to generate electricity and steam using natural gas. He added that as part of APC's plan to increase the handling capacity of the export jetty, a joint venture between APC and Jordan Phosphate Mines company has begun work on a new industrial port in Aqaba at an initial cost of JD 118 million, to be funded equally by APC and the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company.

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