OREANDA-NEWS. February 09, 2010. State-owned Belaruskali’s potash exports amounted to 468,000 tonnes in January 2010, or 90% of the originally planned volume, a representative in the administration of the company told.

Belaruskali explained that the shortage was due to the unfavorable weather in January, which affected shipments.

“We will have to compensate in February, when we have to ship 670,000 tonnes of potash fertilizers,” the representative said.

Belaruskali is now working at its full capacity.

Export fell in 2010 to 2.948 million tonnes in 2009, down from 6.48 million tonnes in 2008.

Potash was mostly transshipped via Klaipeda, in Lithuania, – 2.34 million tonnes were delivered in bulk and 97,000 tonnes in containers.

In 2009, Belaruskali exported 437,000 tonnes of potash via Nika-Tera, a new port in Ukraine. Previously, it used the Nikolayev seaport, which is now a grain port.

Belaruskali is one of the largest potash makers in the world, employing about 20,000 personnel. The company plans to increase its output to 9.65 million tonnes annually by 2015. Belaruskali accounts for 15.3% of the world potash production.