Uralkali (Berezniki, Perm Territory) announces its production results for the 12 months of 2009. In 2009 the company produced about 2.621 million tonnes of potassium chloride, a 45.3% reduction compared with 2008 output of about 4.793 million tonnes.

The decline in 2009 production was prompted by a substantial fall in global demand for potash fertilizers due to the economic recession. Lower potash consumption in several markets resulted in the company working at reduced capacity utilization throughout 2009.

The demand for potash fertilizers, however, started to recover gradually in late 2009. In November 2009 Uralkali produced about 307.6 thousand tonnes of potassium chloride, a 44.6% increase over November 2008. The company’s output in December was about 199.4 thousand tonnes, a 53.5% increase over December 2008.