Arab Potash

Although the Dead Sea had long been known to have large amounts of mineral deposits – including potash, the earliest efforts to produce potash dates back only to the 1920s, when Moshe Novomeysky built a potash and bromine production site in Kalil. By the end of the 1930s, his company added another facility. However, the Kalil facility was destroyed during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, while the other facility halted its production, which put an end to the project.

In 1956, the government of Jordan collaborated with some Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and Libya to establish the Arab Potash Company, in order to extract and produce potash and other minerals from the Dead Sea, of which the government of Jordan kept the majority of the stake. One year later, the government of Jordan granted the company the exclusive rights for all mining operations at the Dead Sea for 100 years. However, the APC took over two decades to begin to launch its first production facility. In 1983, the company shipped its first commercial shipments of potash.

In 1992, the APC became a minority partner in Nippon Jordan Ferilizers Company. In 1999, the Kamira Arab Potash Company (KEPACO) was formed as a joint venture between Arab Potash and Finnish company Kemira Agro. KEPACO was inaugurated by King Abdullah II in 2003. By the end of the year, the company began supplying Potassium nitrate to the local market.

In 2000, the government of Jordan signed deals to export its potash production to France and Egypt. In 2001, the government announced it will sell its 52.9% stake in the APC. It received offers from German company Kali und Salz, Japanese company Mitsubishi, and Canadian company PotashCorp. By the end of 2003, PotashCorp purchased 28% of the government's stake in the company. In 2007, the APC's net profit reached a record JD150 million.

In February 2014, Arab Potash signed a 15-year deal with US-based Noble Energy to provide Arab Potash, through its Israeli affiliates, with two billion cubic metres of natural gas. In 2018, China's SDIC Mining Investment Co. purchased the 28% stake owned by Canadian company Nutrien in Arab Potash for $502 million. In 2019, Arab Potash produced Red Potash for the first time and exported its first shipment to Brazil. The company achieved JD125 million in net profits in 2018. In 2019, its net profit increased to JD152 million, while in 2020, it generated JD127 million. Jamal Al Sarayrah – who served as the chairman of the board of directors since June 2012, resigned on December 18, 2020. He was succeeded by Shehadah Abu Hdaib.

Operations

The Arab Potash Company is located 110 km (68 mi) south of Amman and 200 km (120 mi) north of Aqaba. The site is basically a solar evaporation pond system of an area of 112 m2 (1,210 sq ft) and processing plants. APC produces four grades of potash: standard, fine, granular and industrial grade potash through the following process:

Solar ponds: the process starts at the brine intake pumping station located on the Lisan peninsula where four intake pumps with a capacity of approximately 20 m3/s (710 cu ft/s) deliver 250 - 300 million tons per year of Dead Sea water. The precipitated raw carnallite is the raw material for producing potash is precipitated as mixture of carnallite (KCl.MgCl2.6H2O) and NaCl. This bed is harvested as a slurry from beneath the brine and delivered to booster pumps on the dikes and then to the refinery through floating pipes.

Processing plants: The Hot Leach Plant: APC utilizes the hot leach process technology to produce high grade standard and fine potash, which includes the following units of operation: Carnallite Processing; Sylvinite Processing; Crystallization; Product Dewatering; Drying; Screening

Industrial potash plant: industrial grade potash (KCl) is the premium form of potassium chloride (99.2% KCl min.) that is produced to meet the needs of the non-fertilizer sector.