K + S to buy Chile's SPL

摘要

German salts and fertiliser company K + S Group is in negotiations to buy Chilean salt producer Sociedad Punta de Lobos SA (SPL) to become the largest salt producer in South America. Although no formal offer has been announced publicly, the price could be in the order of 500 million dollars according to local press. SPL produced about 5.5m tpa of salt in 2005 from an open pit mine 60km south of Iquique in Chile's northern Region I, generating sales of about 300 million dollars from sales to 35 countries.