K+S Aktiengesellschaft

The K+S Group acquires Qemetica’s salt business. The salt and fertilizer producer based in Kassel (Germany) is purchasing two evaporated salt production sites in Stassfurt (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany) and Janikowo (Poland) from the Polish chemical company. Thereby, K+S is further expanding its own European salt business and opening up additional growth potential in Central and Eastern Europe.

The K+S Group signed an agreement today to acquire Qemetica’s two evaporated salt sites. The purchase price was agreed at €350 million, plus a performance bonus of up to 30 M €, depending on the business performance of Qemetica’s existing salt business in 2026 and 2027 (purchase price/EBITDA: approx. 7-times). In 2025, the business unit employed about 400 employees. Revenues amounted to approximately 125 M €, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to just under 50 M €

“Our European salt business is operating in a market environment that has recently improved significantly. We are generating stable revenues that make a reliable contribution to K+S’s business success,” explains K+S CEO Dr. Christian H. Meyer. “The acquisition of Qemetica’s two evaporated salt sites offers us an opportunity to further expand our salt business within Europe. At the same time, this opens up good additional growth potential for us in Central and Eastern Europe.”

The two Qemetica sites focus on the production of specialty salts, for example for water softening and the food industry. “This represents an ideal expansion of our existing portfolio. We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues in Stassfurt and Janikowo to the K+S family soon,” explains K+S CEO Meyer.

“We are placing our salt business, which we have developed intensively and successfully over the past few years, in good hands,” says Qemetica CEO Kamil Majczak. The transaction enables Qemetica to unlock capital and allocate it for strategic areas. Majczak: “This marks the end of an era and the beginning of a new chapter, as we are establishing our new Resource Recovery unit, through which energy recovery from waste becomes one of the pillars of Qemetica Group’s growth.”

K+S is evaluating various financing and capital market instruments to fund the purchase price for the acquisition and to optimize the Group’s financing structure. The timing, implementation, and structure of such financing depend primarily on developments in the capital market environment and financing conditions. “If no financing has been secured at the time of the closing, which we expect in the first quarter of 2027, we can draw on existing liquidity and firmly committed credit lines and, if necessary, refinance at a later date,” explains CFO Dr. Jens Christian Keuthen. “It was important to us that the multiple underlying the purchase price, that is, the ratio of purchase price to earnings contribution, and K+S’s market valuation be closely aligned. We also ensured that the debt ratio, that is, net debt to EBITDA, remained largely unchanged, as the purchase price is offset by a correspondingly stable contribution to earnings.” (K+S, MRG)

Germany’s largest mining company supports the European Commission’s initiative to increase Europe’s supply of raw materials. Dr. Christian H. Meyer, CEO of the Kassel-based salt and fertilizer manufacturer K+S, considers the RESourcEU Action Plan an important step in the right direction. However, he believes that the simplifications should benefit the domestic production of all mineral and metallic raw materials, not just so-called critical raw materials.

Last week, the European Commission presented the RESourceEU Action Plan. The plan’s main goal is to improve Europe’s supply of critical raw materials (CRMs), such as rare earths and lithium. In addition to promoting CRM projects, the action plan provides for revising regulatory frameworks and streamlining permit procedures to accelerate raw material projects.

“The European Commission is following up on discussions from EU Raw Materials Week in November. During that event, the European raw materials industry made it clear that environmental regulations often restrict projects for extracting and processing important raw materials. This prevents the urgent availability of those materials,” said K+S CEO Meyer. The action plan is an important step in the right direction. “Permit procedures in Germany and the EU must be accelerated as a matter of urgency. It is unacceptable for the approval of important projects designed to secure our independence to take more than ten years. Countries such as Canada demonstrate that this can be done much more quickly while maintaining high environmental standards. We must significantly speed up the process here. We know the federal government supports this demand because it recognizes the importance of removing bureaucratic obstacles for industry to support domestic raw material production.“

However, Meyer emphasizes the need to reduce bureaucratic obstacles to extracting all mineral and metallic raw materials. “There is no doubt that Europe urgently needs to improve its supply of critical raw materials. We have allowed ourselves to become dangerously dependent in recent decades.” Nevertheless, Europe needs more than just rare earths. “We cannot focus solely on the materials we currently lack. We must also preserve existing production to ensure an independent future.”

The K+S CEO cites several examples of mineral raw materials that are essential for many applications. Potassium fertilizer is essential for ensuring Europe’s food supply. High-purity salt and potassium chloride are also vital for producing medicines and are integral to the production of tens of thousands of products. K+S extracts these minerals in Germany and primarily supplies them to the European market.

Plans to further secure or expand domestic production are often delayed or prevented altogether due to excessive EU regulation. This is where the RESourceEU Action Plan comes in. “If domestic raw material extraction is not quickly relieved of bureaucratic obstacles, Europe risks becoming dependent on other countries,” explains Meyer. “We should all be interested in extracting raw materials here in Germany to secure our independence, and because Germany has the highest standards for environmentally friendly extraction.”

The European Commission plans to present proposals to accelerate permit procedures in the first half of 2026. At the same time, the Commission will present an action plan for domestic fertilizers by midyear to reduce dependence on other countries in this area. Meyer urges adhering to this schedule and following the announcements with substantial simplifications. “Too often, promises have been made to reduce bureaucracy, but little has happened afterwards. If the European Commission is serious about increasing Europe’s security of supply, it must quickly follow words with action. We can count on the support of the federal government, which has set ambitious goals for speeding up the permit procedures for industrial projects,” Meyer summarizes. (K+S/MRG)

Hazardous waste has been stored in part of the Wintershall potash mine in the Werra region of eastern Hesse/Germany since 1972. The Herfa-Neurode underground waste disposal site, which today belongs to the K+S Werra Verbundwerk, is the longest-serving and largest of its kind in the world, setting standards in safe storage to this day (Figure 1). Now, the 50th anniversary of the landfill was celebrated with a festive colloquium, which brought together representatives of the German waste management industry.

About 100 guests met in the Friedewald festival hall to exchange views on developments in the landfilling and reutilisation of waste. To the sounds of the K+S miners’ band Wintershall, Friedewald’s mayor Julian Kempka welcomed the visitors as host. His colleague from Heringen, Daniel Iliev, on whose municipal territory the underground storage site is located, emphasised the good, transparent cooperation between the city and the company. He said this was indispensable, especially in the sensitive but also important dumping of hazardous waste: “I am glad that we are working together here to ensure that the remains of our affluent society are safely stored,” said Iliev.

The head of the K+S Werra plant, Martin Ebeling, also declared: “We are putting a lot of effort and expertise into ensuring that safety prevails and quality requirements are met. This is a prerequisite for the 50-year success story of the Herfa-Neurode underground waste disposal site and the acceptance in our region that is necessary for it.” In this way, K+S and the REKS joint venture, which is managed together with REMEX, can make an important contribution to waste disposal safety in Germany as a sales partner, REKS managing director Martin Brown also emphasised: “Hazardous waste is produced in society and industry. These substances are in the world and must be stored in a safe place.” This is exactly what is possible in Herfa-Neurode due to the special geological conditions, he said.

All speakers at the colloquium emphasised the safety aspect in their contributions: With a total of four Class 4 underground landfills, in which hazardous waste is stored for which there is no other use, Germany has a special disposal option that is the envy of many countries. In the underground disposal sites in the salt rock, the waste is kept away from the environment for a long time and without aftercare – and this has been happening for decades without incident.

Arnd Schneider, head of the Herfa-Neurode underground waste disposal site, explained that in addition to the geological conditions with a water- and gas-tight salt deposit, this also requires a complex safety system with several artificial barriers and intensive control of the waste. Every four years, he said, the long-term safety record is reviewed, for which up to 100,000 years into the future are looked at. Since the first tonne of waste salts from an oil refinery was deposited in Herfa-Neurode on 4th September 1972, more than 3.5 Mt of hazardous waste have been safely disposed of so far. And the landfill still offers enough space to continue storage for several decades.

Other well-wishers included Sandra Giern (Federal Association of the German Waste Management, Water and Recycling Industry), Thomas Kießling (ERCOSPLAN Ingenieurgesellschaft Geotechnik und Bergbau), Carsten Spohn (Interessen­gemeinschaft der Thermischen Abfallbehandlungsanlagen in Deutschland), Andreas Ellerkmann (Indaver Deutsch­land), Torsten Zuber (REKS) and Dirk Röth (BAUREKA Baustoff-Recycling). In their speeches, they addressed various aspects of waste disposal, recycling management and landfilling. And they unanimously wished the birthday child, the Herfa-Neurode underground landfill, 50 more years of successful and safe operation in the disposal of hazardous waste. (K+S/Si.)

At the request of the company, Fabiola Fernandez Grund, who had already been appointed as a further member of the Executive Board at K+S Aktiengesellschaft, Kassel/Germany, last December, will not be taking up her position at the start of next year. In reaching this decision, the Supervisory Board followed the process of redimensioning the management team at K+S and will no longer be pursuing the originally planned new additions to the Executive Board until further notice.

Former Financial Director Burkhard Lohr succeeded Norbert Steiner as Chairman of the Executive Board of K + S AG, Kassel/Germany, on 12th May 2017. Thorsten Becker, who used to manage the Investor Relations department, has taken on Lohr’s previous role. At the head of the K + S Supervisory Board, former BASF Chairman Andreas Krei-meyer replaced the long-standing Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Ralf Bethge, on 10th May 2017.

The Supervisory Board of K+S Aktiengesellschaft, Kassel/Germany, has invited Otto Lose to join the company’s Board of Management for the Potash and Magnesium Products division as of 1st January 2017.

In mid-September 2016, the first cars for the future transport of potash from the new Legacy site to Vancouver harbour were handed over to K+S Potash Canada (KSPC) by the Canadian manufacturer, National Steel Car (NSC). The cars, specially designed for KSPC, are shorter than conventional freight cars but have the same capacity – around 105 t – meaning more cars can be used per freight train (Figure 6). Thanks to a special opening mechanism, the cars can be loaded while in motion. KSPC has placed an initial order of more than 500 freight cars from NSC and the fleet of cars is due to be expanded at a later stage as production increases.

Each freight train will consist of 177 of these cars and have a total length of roughly 3 km. The freight trains will be used to transport the potash to be produced at the Legacy site out of Saskatchewan province and over the Rocky Mountains to Port Moody in Vancouver harbour, some 1,800 km away. Here, KSPC and its partner PCT are currently building the most cutting-edge potash terminal in the world, where potash products will be loaded onto ships and transported to customers. Some of the car fleet will also be used to transport products to the USA. (K+S/Si.)

In its meeting on 24th August 2016, the Supervisory Board of K + S Aktiengesellschaft, Kassel/Germany, appointed Dr. Burk-hard Lohr future Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the company. Currently Chief Financial Officer of K + S, Lohr is due to take over from Norbert Steiner when he retires on 12th May 2017. The Super-visory Board is due to appoint additional members of the Executive Board – Chief Financial Officer, Director of the Potash and Magnesium Products business unit – in the near future.

The 13th Mining Forum took place on 18th and 19th June 2015 in the Kongress Palais, Kassel. Almost 250 specialists and decision-makers from the coal mining, raw materials and energy sectors gathered together to discuss current issues in industry and research.

Presentations on a mixture of classical and pioneering subjects, given by international speakers proved, as did the exhibition, that this year‘s Mining Forum was once again a platform for exchanging information in these sectors. Organised by DMT GmbH & Co. KG, Essen, in cooperation with K+S Aktiengesellschaft, Kassel, and TSU e. V (Association for technical safety and environmental protection), Gotha, the number of attendees was evidence of widespread acceptance of the event: „We are very happy with the event this year,“ explains Prof. Dr. Günther Apel, Director of the Mining Consulting & Engineering division at DMT.

DMT has organised the Mining Forum at different locations every other year since 1991. For the first time, this year‘s event had a very international focus: „We received exceptionally positive feedback for the presentations given in English,“ says Apel. „That boosts our efforts to ensure the attraction and exclusivity of the Mining Forum in the medium term.“

Visually, the focal point of the conference was the integrated trade exhibition: In addition to exhibiting products and services from different companies, it provided an opportunity to make new contacts or talk with speakers and sponsors in a relaxed atmosphere.

Jens Peter Lux, Director of the DMT Geo Engineering & Exploration division and his team, who were responsible for organising and running the event, are already looking forward to the next Mining Forum in 2017: „Our concept for the conference was to emphasise the exchange of expertise between attendees. We are very pleased that it has established itself as a conference known for having expert speakers.“ (DMT/Si)