Compass Minerals Reports Fourth-Quarter Highway Deicing Sales Volume and Snow-Event Data

January 13, 2011

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Jan 13, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP) has published its fourth-quarter 2010 highway deicing sales volume and regional weather data on its website at www.compassminerals.com/marketdata.

Compass Minerals' highway deicing sales volume, which includes all highway maintenance products sold in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., as well as rock salt sold to the chemical industry, totaled approximately 3,284,000 tons in the three months ended December 2010 compared to sales of 3,127,000 tons in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The company has reported that there were 50 snow events in 11 representative cities in the company's primary North American highway deicing service area compared to 43 events in the same cities in the 2009 period and a ten-year average of 50.5 events. The number of snow events reported may not directly correlate to Compass Minerals' deicing results due to a variety of factors, including the relative significance to the company of the cities represented and the differences in the amount of salt purchased by customers to establish their pre-season stockpiles. The weather data should be used only as an indicator of the year-to-year variations in winter weather conditions in these regions. The weather data is drawn from the U.S. National Weather Service and Environment Canada without weighting or other adjustments.

About Compass Minerals

Based in the Kansas City metropolitan area, Compass Minerals is a leading producer of minerals, including salt, sulfate of potash specialty fertilizer and magnesium chloride. The company provides highway deicing salt to customers in North America and the United Kingdom and specialty fertilizer to growers worldwide. Compass Minerals also produces consumer deicing and water conditioning products, ingredients used in consumer and commercial foods, and other mineral-based products for consumer, agricultural and industrial applications. Compass Minerals also provides records management services to businesses throughout the U.K.

SOURCE: Compass Minerals

Compass Minerals
Rodney L. Underdown, 913-344-9395
Chief Financial Officer
or
Peggy Landon, 913-344-9315
Director of Investor Relations and
Corporate Communications