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K+S invited international experts and forward thinkers, political and scientific stakeholders, NGOs, as well as experts in development cooperation and representatives of startup companies to the third FUTURE FOOD FORUM in Berlin.

The regional council in Kassel has approved the expansion of the Hattorf (Philippsthal) tailings pile. With this, the disposal of solid production residues which is an important requirement for producing potash at this site, has been ensured.

On World Food Day, K+S and Handelsblatt are bringing the driving themes for securing sustainable food to the stage at the AXICA Congress and Convention Center in Berlin.

K+S has resumed production at the Wintershall (Heringen) and Hattorf (Philippsthal) sites today. Full, unrestricted production of Plant Werra should be achieved by October 1. The reason for the interruption was the long-lasting drought which caused the low water levels in the Werra river. As a result of this, the disposal of saline wastewater was only very limited or not possible at all.

K+S has established ambitious sustainability goals and the company is now taking a new path in driving the achievement of these targets. With the “Brine Challenge”, K+S is looking for new approaches, concepts and ideas to significantly reduce the saline wastewater from the tailings piles.

One of the world’s most pressing global challenges is securing sustainable nutrition. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), every ninth person goes to bed hungry.

Due to the persistent severe drought, the water level in the Werra river remains at an exceptionally low level. Therefore, production at the Hattorf site has also been temporarily interrupted today.

At today’s Capital Markets Day in the new Bethune Mine in Canada, the K+S Board of Executive Directors presents the business to analysts and investors. K+S CEO Dr. Burkhard Lohr emphasizes the progress made in implementing the “Shaping 2030” strategy towards the new “One K+S”: “We are continuing to make good progress with the implementation and have now developed the detailed concept of our new organization. The first synergies are already being realized. As planned, we want to achieve synergies of about 150 million euros per year by the end of 2020.”

The development of growth regions is an important component of the new K+S corporate “Shaping 2030” strategy. In doing so, K+S is focusing more closely on the sub-Saharan region which, because of the still underdeveloped agriculture, offers great potential. The use of fertilizers is comparatively low at only eight kilograms per hectare and crop yields are correspondingly low. By comparison, an average of 135 kilograms per hectare are used worldwide and in Europe, 150 kilograms are used. In addition, agriculture is characterized by small-scale farming structures without pronounced agricultural know-how. This is exactly where K+S comes in.

The persistent severe drought in recent months has led to production being temporarily interrupted at some Werra plants. Their main disposal method is currently restricted due to the exceptionally low water level in the Werra river.