APC signs 5-year MoU with Indian company

AMMAN — The Arab Potash Company (APC) and Indian Potash Limited (IPL) on Sunday signed a five-year memorandum of understanding to provide the Indian market with amounts ranging between 275,000 and 325,000 tonnes annually. 

The agreement was signed by APC CEO Maen Nsour and IPL director general for marketing affairs Sadihar Rilan, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The signing ceremony of the agreement was held on the sidelines of Indian Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers Mansukh Mandaviya's visit to the Kingdom, in the presence of APC Chairman Shihadeh Abu Hdeib, Investment Minister Khairy Amr and Indian Ambassador to Jordan Anwar Haleem. 

The two sides discussed means to develop commercial relations between India and the APC to provide the Indian market with Jordanian potash.

The MoU covers APC sales to the IPL for the years 2022-2026 according to the contracted price levels in force in India for each year.

Commenting on the memo, Abu Hdeib highlighted the importance of developing commercial ties between Jordan and India, mainly in the fertiliser field, commending the "long strategic relations" between the APC and the IPL, spanning over 27 years. 

Referring to the recent international political events in the world and their repercussions on the global fertiliser market, he expressed awareness of the “strategic importance” of the APC products for their close relation with food security.

Nsour reiterated the importance of relations with the IPL and the Indian market in general and the significance of this memo, where the IPL is the largest buyer of potash for the Indian market and the second biggest buyer of the APC at the global level.

He noted that the APC provides markets with some 2.6 million tonnes of potash annually, constituting around 4 per cent of the global consumption volume.

Amr said that the mining sector is among the biggest and most important industrial sectors in the Kingdom for covering Jordan's top natural resources and comprising big industries in terms of investment volume that play a role in employing local workforce. 

Mandaviya said that Jordan is considered a strategic provider for fertilisers in the Indian market, where potash imports from the Kingdom last year accounted for some 17 per cent of his country's imports of potash fertilisers. 

He also highlighted the importance of developing commercial ties between the countries, mainly in the fertiliser field, noting that "historical commercial relations between Jordan and India are deep-rooted since long years".