After last week's pullback, shares in Yorkshire potash producer Sirius Minerals (SXX) moved up by 7.5 per cent on news that it had signed a marketing agreement with KEYTRADE AG, a Zurich-based fertiliser trading, distribution and marketing company that is half-owned by NYSE-listed CF Industries.
KEYTRADE intends to market up to 1.75m tonnes of polyhalite a year from the York Potash Project once it's up and running in 2016, which will account for roughly one-third of the first phase production target. Polyhalite is a compound that can be processed to make potash.
Melih Keyman, chief executive of KEYTRADE, believes "that there is big potential to market polyhalite globally" particularly given the material's "unique multi-nutrient characteristics", which make it an attractive option for fertiliser producers - the potential benefits and versatility of polyhalite as an input in fertiliser production have only recently been fully recognised by the industry.
