Mr. Rostyam Sabirov, Director General at JSC Silvinit, made the following statement on the current lower world fertilizer demand and possible reduction of 2008 potash output by the enterprise by 8% of the planned number:

“In our opinion the current difficulties faced by farmers in the world, like the fall in food prices due to higher yields, credit problems because of the world financial crisis, are short-term. In this situation we have taken a decision to increase maintenance shutdowns in terms of time and volume. Today we are determined to pay more attention to modernization and revamping of equipment operating in challenging technological conditions, in an aggressive environment. Due to a temporary decline in world fertilizer demand the company has initiated additional actions to optimize costs of production and to cut output of the product to match current consumption. Longer maintenance shutdowns may result in reduction of the total 2008 production programme by 450,000 t product. However, we are confident that the capacity modernization will let us meet rising consumer demand for potash fertilizers in the world market as food demand driven by higher world population will be steadily increasing. Besides, balanced fertilizer application has not been achieved in the majority of the world regions. We are confident that the current situation will not affect long-term investment and production plans of the company.”

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