K&S : Entire region profits from the Zielitz potash plant

22 January 2015

• With 1,800 employees at the Zielitz potash plant, K+S is an important employer in the region
• Company secures a further 1,200 indirect jobs in the region
• Medium-sized businesses in the region received orders worth € 25 million in 2013 alone
• Significantly more than 300 suppliers under contract
• Site communities and the region profit from fiscal benefits of about € 27 million 
• Region's tourism benefits from potash mining

One of the most important employers, a significant client for medium-sized businesses and a vital taxpayer and partner for the communities - the Zielitz potash plant is "a central building block for the region's economic and demographic development." That is the conclusion arrived at in a 116-page scientific study commissioned by K+S and prepared by the Institut GMA - Gesellschaft für Markt- und Absatzforschung mbH, Munich - in conjunction with BHP Brugger und Partner, Zurich.

The authors of the study describe the Zielitz plant as "a key pillar for stabilising the population of the region." The plant has an unequivocally positive and significant impact on the Magdeburg economic area. This not only benefits the labour and vocational training market, as the plant also has an impact on local communities and medium-sized businesses as well as interregional transport. As a result, K+S is "an important hub in the regional value creation system."

This is also confirmed by the federal state premier of Saxony-Anhalt, Dr. Reiner Haseloff: "What we knew all along we now have in cold print: The Zielitz potash plant is extremely important for northern Saxony-Anhalt - as employer, client and naturally also taxpayer. About 3,000 jobs are secured directly and indirectly by the plant. Against this background, I wish the potash plant a successful development in the future as well. I am certain that it will also have a further positive impact on the entire region."

"Frequently, sections of the public only notice interventions in the natural environment necessitated by potash mining. However, this study impressively demonstrates the numerous positive effects of potash mining on the region and also underlines the great importance of our plant for medium-sized businesses as well as local communities", says plant manager Martin Westphal.

K+S commissioned the study in order to examine the socioeconomic impact of the Zielitz plant in connection with upcoming approval proceedings to extend the tailings pile.

The researchers analysed the impact of the plant on the local and regional environment and determined direct and indirect effects on the infrastructure, population and economy. In addition to the assessment of statistical data and specialist publications, 25 expert interviews were also key instruments used for the study. Experts from the local/regional economy, health care, environmental protection, public agencies, political circles and tourism were among those questioned.

By providing skilled jobs and offering wide-ranging vocational training, the Zielitz plant is a factor stabilising economic and population trends in the region. "The jobs at the Zielitz plant have a considerable effect on population trends in the region. Their loss could not be made up for in the Magdeburg economic area", the authors explain. About 120 trainees are currently being trained at the Zielitz plant to become experts in a total of seven different career paths and upon successful completion of their training, most of them will be taken on as employees. The plant therefore accounts for a proportion of about seven per cent of all vocational training places in the Börde district.

In conclusion, the authors of the study state that "the Zielitz plant has a positive impact overall on socioeconomic structures and trends in the region." Given the structural character of the region, they hardly see any institution other than the potash plant achieving these effects as a result of economic activities.

K+S KALI GmbH based in Kassel extracts crude salts containing potassium, magnesium and sulphur from its six mines in Germany. These are used to produce a wide range of fertiliser specialties and preliminary products for many different technical, industrial and pharmaceutical applications. K+S KALI GmbH is one of the world's leading suppliers of potash and magnesium products. The company belonging to the K+S Group employs about 8,000 people.

You can find further information about K+S KALI GmbH on the company website at www.kali-gmbh.com.

• Press Release 22.01.2015 (PDF  | 166 KB)
• Studie zu den sozioökonomischen Wirkungen des Werkes Zielitz (PDF  | 8.89 MB)

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