chemical · input
Potassium nitrate (KNO₃) used as a chloride-free specialty fertilizer for high-value crops (fruits, vegetables, tobacco, flowers) sensitive to chloride and requiring high potassium. Also used in glass and ceramics, food preservation, and industrial oxidizers. KEMAPCO (Arab Potash subsidiary) supplies approximately 12% of global KNO₃ demand. Israeli Haifa Chemicals and SQM (Chile) are co-leading producers.
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Source countries
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Companies
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Goods affected
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Claims on record
Where it comes from
Share of global supply, by country.
| Country | Share of supply |
|---|---|
| ILIsrael | 27% |
| CLChile | 24% |
| CNChina | 18% |
| NLNetherlands | 15% |
| JOJordan | 12% |
Who makes it
5 companies produce potassium nitrate (kno₃) — specialty fertilizer.
Largest global exporter of potassium nitrate (~30% market share). Produces 454,000 MT/yr combined at Mishor Rotem (Negev Desert) and Haifa port facilities. Also produces liquid fertilizers and calcium nitrate. EU Annex II explosive precursor obligations apply to all KNO3 shipments.
SQM (Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile; NYSE/Santiago: SQM; ~$10.5B market cap 2025; HQ Santiago, Chile) produces battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate alongside lithium carbonate from the Salar de Atacama. SQM's Antofagasta chemical plant converts brine-derived lithium chloride concentrate to both Li2CO3 and LiOH·H2O for export. SQM is the world's largest single producer of lithium chemicals by volume. SQM's LiOH is produced via a causticization route (Li2CO3 + Ca(OH)2 → 2LiOH + CaCO3) rather than the direct spodumene route used by hard-rock converters. Battery-grade LiOH requires >56.5% LiOH content, low impurities (Na <0.005%, Fe <0.001%). In May 2024, SQM signed a public-private partnership with Codelco giving the Chilean state 50%+1 from 2025 to 2060. SQM produced 201,000 MT LCE total in 2024; LiOH accounted for a growing share as NMC-811 adoption accelerated. Source: SQM Annual Report 2023.
Jordan's sole and the Arab world's only potash producer. Operates from Ghor Al Safi at the southern end of the Dead Sea — extracts potash through solar evaporation from Dead Sea brine. Produced 2.84M MT in 2024 (record). Revenue JD 651M; net profit JD 184M (2024). World's 8th largest potash producer by volume. Over 90% exported to 30+ countries. Contributes 8% of Jordan's total exports; $1.3B in foreign currency to Jordan's banking system annually. Dead Sea level declining due to water diversion and extraction — a long-term geological constraint on operations.
Largest Chinese KNO3 producer (~10-12% global share). Operates facilities in Tianjin and Qinghai (via JV with Qinghai Salt Lake Industry). Claims 300,000-500,000 MT/yr combined capacity. Major exporter; Shandong province accounts for ~40% of China's KNO3 exports.
World's largest ammonia distributor via Yara Clean Ammonia; >15% global ammonia market share. Produces and trades ~17-18M MT of ammonia and nitrogen fertilizers annually. Revenue $13.9B in 2024. Plants across Norway (Herøya/Porsgrunn: 500,000 MT/yr), Germany (Brunsbüttel: 800,000 MT/yr), Australia (Pilbara: 850,000 MT/yr, ~5% of world merchant ammonia supply), and 15+ other countries. Also the world's largest multi-nutrient fertilizer producer in Western Europe. Pivoting to green ammonia: started Europe's largest electrolyzer at Herøya (Norway) in 2024 for renewable hydrogen/ammonia. Yara Clean Ammonia is positioning to supply ammonia as marine fuel.
