EuroChem signs €400m mine deal

EUROCHEM, Russia’s largest mineral fertiliser producer, signed $634 million (€400m) worth of contracts to build a potash mine and plant in southern Russia, seeking to take advantage of a jump in prices for the nutrient.

EuroChem signed a €205m contract with Thyssen Schachtbau GmbH and a $270m contract with Shaft Sinkers Pty Ltd to build a mine, said chief executive Dmitry Strezhnev.

EuroChem has raised spending plans for the Gremyachinskoye potash deposit by 25% to 50 billion rubles (€1.38 billion), Strezhnev said. The deposit, which has reserves of 1.2 billion metric tons, will produce 2.3 million tons a year in 2012, rising to 4.6 million tons in 2015, he said.