Severe Winter Drives Increased Highway Deicing Sales Volumes
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 2014--
Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP) reports that increased snow activity in its
core service areas pushed its highway deicing sales volumes well above
the company’s 2012 results. Compass Minerals’ highway deicing business
sold 4.0 million tons in the three months ended December 2013 compared
with sales of 2.3 million tons in the 2012 quarter. This result 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.
Eleven representative cities in the company’s primary North American
highway deicing service area reported a total of 81 snow events during
the period compared with a 10-year average of 44.8 events. The same
cities posted only 36 events in the fourth quarter of 2012.
“The start to the winter season has been just what we needed in order to
begin to rebalance the supply-demand dynamics of the North American
highway deicing market,” said Fran Malecha, Compass Minerals’ president
and chief executive officer. “The frequent and widespread snowfall
throughout our service territories has supported higher sales of
packaged consumer and professional deicing salt as well.”
The company has published its fourth-quarter 2013 highway deicing sales
volume and regional weather data on its website at www.compassminerals.com/marketdata.
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 National Climatic Data Center, Environment
Canada, and AccuWeather, Inc. 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. For more information, visit www.compassminerals.com.
Source: Compass Minerals
Compass Minerals
Theresa Womble, 913-344-9362
Manager of
Investor Relations