Salt Industry News

Compañía Minera Cordillera SCM (CMC), a new Chilean rock salt mining company and part of the Mahoney holding group (Eastern Minerals Group and Eastern Salt Group) has joined the Salt Institute. The Mahoney companies have been long-standing significant importers of deicing salt for roads along the east coast of the U.S.

CMC owns the "Tenardita" mine) in Salar Grande de Tarapacá, Iquique-Chile, with claimed reserves for more than 180 years and a purity exceeding 99%. The surface mining operation can produce 600 tons/hour with a 3-million ton annual production capacity.

Posted by Dick Hanneman at 09:29 AM | Permalink

US Salt Corporation has sold its only salt property, the former Akzo Nobel evap plant in Watkins Glen, NY., to a natural gas company seeking US Salt's salt cavern storage capacity for its product. Both seller US Salt and buyer Inergy Propane LLC, are based in the Kansas City area. The Kansas City Business Journal reported August 11 that Inergy will invest $191 million in acquiring US Salt and expanding its storage capacity by 5 billion cubic feet. A second stage development would add a further 5 billion cubic feet. The story quotes Intergy CEO John Sherman's news release:

"First, the salt business is characterized by stable cash flows and long-term growth potential; and it meets all of our strict acquisition criteria. This transaction also provides us with a long-term pipeline of high-return storage development projects in the heart of the Northeast natural gas distribution infrastructure."

Welcome to the salt industry, Intergy.

Posted by Dick Hanneman at 01:26 PM | Permalink

Morton Salt has agreed to pay $15 million to acquire Season-All, an all-purpose seasoned salt brand, from McCormick & Company under terms of a Federal Trade Commission ruling that McCormick divest Season-All before it can acquire Lawry's from Conopco, Inc. Season-All has annual sales of about $18 million.

Posted by Dick Hanneman at 09:35 AM | Permalink

Compass Minerals reported its second quarter results yesterday including a 27% increase in sales to $162 million over the same quarter a year ago. The company said the results reflected "solid salt segment gains" and "significant improvement" in its fertilier business. The company earned $1.6 million for the quarter compared to a quarterly loss in 2007 of $3.2 million, a feat that KansasCity.com described as the first time the company had been profitable in the March-June timeframe.

Sales increased 27 percent to $162.0 million from $127.5 million in the prior-year quarter through significant improvement in the company's specialty fertilizer segment coupled with solid salt segment gains. Cash flow from operations increased 11% in the second quarter when compared to the second quarter of 2007. Year-to-date cash flow from operations rose to $178.3 million through June 30, 2008, compared to $110.0 million in the same period last year.

The company also announced it has sold 6.2 million tons of deicing salt so far this year compared to 5.1 million tons a year ago, a 22% increase. Consumer and industrial tonnage rose slightly more sharply, up from 1.1 million to over 1.3 million tons, 23%.

Posted by Dick Hanneman at 06:40 PM | Permalink

Salt Institute member Salinen Austria has just re-launched its presence on the Internet with clean and attractive new website. Check it out.

Posted by Dick Hanneman at 10:38 AM | Permalink

It's always gratifying to hear someone saying you're doing a good job. It's especially gratifying when they know what they're talking about.

True Value announced its top suppliers last month and named North American Salt, a unit of Compass Minerals as its 2007 Supplier of the Year in the lawn & garden category. Compass Minerals announced the honor today. Congratulations.

Posted by Dick Hanneman at 05:19 PM | Permalink

At 7:02 am this morning, Rohm and Haas announced it has sold its business to chemical giant Dow Chemical; the sale includes Morton Salt. Rohm and Haas chairman and CEO Raj Gupta said combining the companies offered "transformative" potential. Dow chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris used the same word, "transformative," in Dow's release.

Each company has a spate of specialty businesses. The combination makes Dow "the world's preeminent chemical business," said Gupta. Dow will continue to operate Rohm and Haas as a separate unit and, in fact, transfer some of its exisitng speciality chemical businesses under the Rohm and Haas structure. Rohm and Haas will continue to operate its Philadelphia headquarters.

Dow offered $78 a share for the acquisition. Rohm and Haas closed yesterday at $44.83 in weak trading. Its 52-week high was $62.68.

Salt Institute president Richard L. Hanneman noted that Dow Chemical started its business as a salt-based chemical company in Midland, MI, where it is still headquartered. "Most people are surprised to learn that the single largest use of salt isn't to prepare our foods or keep our winter roads safe, but as the feedstock to the world's chlor-alkali industry, the same as petroleum is the feedstock to the petrochemical industry. "Chlorine chemistry touches every aspect of our lives," Hanneman explained.

Posted by Dick Hanneman at 08:02 AM | Permalink