Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL), which extracts potash from the Dead Sea to make fertilizer, said first-quarter profit rose 3 percent as product prices increased.
Net income gained to $288.9 million from $279.7 million a year earlier and revenue increased to $1.55 billion from $1.53 billion, the company said in an e-mailed statement today.
Europe, Asia and North America were the company's main markets, with 43 percent of exports going to Europe and 19 percent to Asia and North America respectively.
Sales of potash to South America "increased significantly," the company said, reflecting higher sales to Brazil, compared with the first quarter of 2011. Potash sales to Asia declined, reflecting a slowdown in the rate of shipments to India and delays in the signing of new supply contracts with Chinese customers.