K+S temporarily suspends potash production at the Hattorf and Unterbreizbach sites

KASSEL, 31-Mar-2016 — /EuropaWire/ — In the light of the low level of precipitation over the past few weeks and the resulting limitations on discharging wastewater into the Werra, potash production at the Hattorf and Unterbreizbach sites will be temporarily suspended starting on 1 April.

Until a final decision is made on the application filed by K+S for continuing the practice of injection until the end of 2021, this urgently needed means of disposal is only available to the Company to a very limited extent following the transitional regulation issued by the Kassel regional council in December 2015. Since then, the disposal of saline wastewater is very closely dependent on the flow of water in the Werra and the capacity of the available retention basins.

Short-time working will apply to approximately 650 employees affected at the Hessen sites of Hattorf and the Hattorf-Wintershall mine as well as approximately 300 employees at Thuringian sites of Unterbreizbach and Merkers. It will be possible to continue production at the Wintershall site for the time being.

“Unfortunately, this step is unavoidable. We are aware that we are demanding a lot of our employees in the current situation and we are grateful for their understanding,” says plant manager Roland Keidel.

Following the completion of a specialist review by the relevant agency, K+S continues to expect a final decision to be made in the summer of this year on the application filed in April 2015 seeking the continuation of the practice of injection until the end of 2021.

“It is very important for the Werra plant and for our employees to receive an injection permit of sufficient scope as soon as possible,” says Dr. Rainer Gerling, the managing director of K+S KALI GmbH. “We are using all the means at our disposal to support the work of the agency to complete its review of our injection application so that we once again have sufficient disposal means as quickly as possible.”

About K+S KALI GmbH
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

Ulrich Göbel
Spokesman
Phone: +49 561 9301 1722
ulrich.goebel@k-plus-s.com

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