The agreements include options for an additional 100,000 metric tons, which are part of three-year framework agreements between ICL and its Chinese customers. Some of the quantities during the first half of 2015 have not been delivered as a result of an industrial strike action by staff at the ICL Dead Sea plant; they will be delivered during the second half of the year.

The new contracts demonstrate the strong relationships that ICL has developed with its customers in China, notwithstanding potential supply problems as a result of the strike.

The contracts reinforce ICL’s standing as one of the world’s main suppliers of potash to China, a rapidly growing potash market.

ICL Fertilizers CEO Nissim Adar said: “The agreements we have signed with our customers in China for 2015 confirm ICL’s strategy to reinforce our position in the Chinese market by marketing and selling directly to potash manufacturers and distributors. We are grateful for the trust and confidence they have placed in ICL over the years – and especially during this period – and we will continue to work diligently to strengthen their trust.”