Australia Kalium Lakes commences deliveries of SOP from Beyondie project

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Australia producer Kalium Lakes announced it has commenced deliveries of sulphate of potash (SOP) volumes from their Beyondie sulphate of potash (SOP) project in West Australia to local fertilizer manufacturer and distributor, CSBP Fertilisers (CSBP).

The deal is being undertaken as part of the inaugural sale under its 10-year offtake agreement signed with K+S Asia Pacific in 2019.

Product is expected to be dispatched in regular weekly deliveries over the next month with the SOP expected to find its way to regional farmers for the 2023 season thereby reducing the reliance on imported SOP.

“This is an important milestone in the commissioning of the Beyondie SOP mine as the sole Australian producer of SOP. It also heralds the start of the era of domestic SOP production in Australia, for distribution to the Australian and international agricultural markets,” said Len Jubber, Kalium Lakes CEO.

“Kalium Lakes wishes to acknowledge the support of offtake partner, K+S, and its local Western Australia buyer, CSBP, in being part of the inaugural delivery of the first Australian made SOP.”

The company is expecting the project will be operating at an 80,000 tonnes/year SOP rate by Q1 2023, with the target of 120,000 tonnes/year output levels achieved by Q3 2024.

In a market update Kalium Lakes said the ramp-up of SOP production from Beyondie is expected to see increasing quantities of SOP being shipped to interstate and overseas markets.

There are also plans for the producer to begin fine tuning their Koppern compaction plant that was partially commissioned in June. This effort is expected to result in higher-priced granular SOP comprising an increasing proportion of the company’s sales.