September 28, 2009
After 18 months of construction work the new facility for the production of potassium chloride suitable for foodstuffs will now be operating on a continuous basis at the Zielitz plant. The facility will extend the site’s range of products to include a product that is particularly strong in value and for which there is potentially high demand.
K+S has invested € 28 million in the facility in order to establish itself as an efficient provider in a growing market segment. The factory in Zielitz provided a particularly good basis for this. Above all, being connected to a modern hot-extraction unit and good logistical integration made the site suitable for the new facility, which has also created 15 jobs. At the same time, the production capacity for health care and food products is being extended within the business as a result.
Centrifuges (Photo: K+S AG)
Dr. Ernst Andres, a member of the executive management of K+S KALI GmbH, explained the significance of the facility for the speciality strategy of the business: “We want to set new standards worldwide in the production of high-value potash salts for healthy foodstuffs and balanced nutrition from the Zielitz site.”
To make the launch, Professor Böhmer, prime minister of Saxony-Anhalt, stressed the high level of importance of a healthy and efficient industry for the economic structure in Saxony-Anhalt and praised the new production line as a step into the future: “There is life after the crisis, and the Zielitz potash plant is best prepared for it.”
Suitable potassium chloride (KCl Food Grade) is used in the production of foodstuffs. It is employed predominantly in ready meals, fitness drinks and snacks. As a result of the increased trend towards a health-centred lifestyle and balanced nutrition, the market for salts suitable for foodstuffs is growing at an above-average rate.
Manufactured Product Potassium Chloride suitable for foodstuffs (Photo: K+S AG)
As Germany’s newest potash plant, Zielitz started to operate in 1973 and is one of the world’s most productive mines, with annual extraction of up to 12 million tonnes of crude salt. Since 1993 it has been part of today’s K+S KALI GmbH, a business of the K+S Group. Since 1993 more than € 400 million have been invested in the expansion and modernisation of the site. The plant employs a total of 1,760 employees, including 157 trainees. It is an important factor in the economy and provides a basis for several thousand jobs in the region. Suppliers and craftsmen from Saxony-Anhalt were also substantially involved in the construction of the new production facility.
New solutions for a balanced nutrition
Production site Zielitz to produce food-grade potassium chloride shortly
