Chile SQM Q1 op profit up 47% on fertilizer jump

30 April 2008 00:58  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--First-quarter operating income at Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM) jumped 47% fom a year earlier to $86.2m (€55.2m), driven by higher fertilizer prices, the Chilean mineral firm reported on Tuesday.

Revenues rose 38% from a year earlier to $326.3m, more than offsetting cost pressures from higher prices for energy and raw materials and unfavourable foreign-exchange movements, SQM said.

“The significant growth in revenues and net income that we have reported for the first quarter has been driven by the favourable pricing scenario in world fertilizer markets,” CEO Patricio Contesse said in a statement.

First-quarter revenues from fertilizer sales rose 66% from a year earlier to $170.5m and accounted for more than half of SQM's total revenue.

Contesse said the fertilizer pricing outlook was good for the remainder of 2008, even though SQM's sales volumes may be crimped by production capacity constraints.

"The rising prices we saw in the latter half of 2007 gained further momentum during the first three months of 2008, and all signs indicate that this trend will continue for the rest of the year," he said.

Global fertilizer prices have been on a steep upward path amid tightening world food supplies and rising prices for agricultural commodities.

The trend gathered fresh momentum earlier this month when China announced export controls on fertilizers to ensure adequate domestic supplies.

($1 = €0.64)

For more on fertilizers visit ICIS chemical intelligence

By: Stephen Burns
+1 713 525 2653

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