OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 9, 2012--
Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP) has published its fourth-quarter 2011
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
2,724,000 tons in the three months ended December 2011 compared with
sales of 3,284,000 tons in the 2010 quarter.
The company reported that there were 16 snow events in 11 representative
cities in its primary North American highway deicing service area during
the period compared with 50 events in the same cities in the 2010 period
and a ten-year average of 46.4 events.
“While the number of snow events in North America declined 68 percent
from the same period in 2010 and was well below the ten-year average,
our highway deicing sales volume was only 17 percent below the 2010
quarter because of strong customer demand to establish pre-season
stockpiles and the benefit of above-average sales in the U.K.,”
explained Angelo Brisimitzakis, Compass Minerals’ president and CEO.
“Fortunately for Compass Minerals, weather patterns do change, and most
of our winter season is typically during the first quarter.”
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
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 cities. Compass Minerals draws its weather data 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. For more information, visit www.compassminerals.com
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