Overview
K+S Aktiengesellschaft is an international mining and raw-materials company whose core business is extracting and marketing potash, magnesium and salt products. These products serve agriculture, industry, consumers and communities, including crop production, industrial processes and winter road safety. Its principal product businesses are Potash and Magnesium Products and Salt.[1][2][3][4]
The company describes its ambition as “We enrich life for generations,” linking its work to food supply, industry, consumers’ daily lives and winter safety. K+S reported FY2025 revenue of €3,647.9 million and around 11,000 employees. It has production sites in Europe and North America, alongside a worldwide distribution network; its worldwide-sites listing covers five continents.[5][6][7] [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Products & services
K+S’s agricultural products include commodity potassium chloride (KCl), marketed as KALIMOP® for crops such as grain, corn, rice, soybeans and sugar cane. It is available in granulated form for direct application, as fine-grain material for compound-fertilizer production, and for bulk blending. Specialty products supply potassium, magnesium and sulfur, with offerings including KALISOP®, KORN-KALI®, ROLL-KALI®, PATENTKALI®, ESTA® KIESERIT, GRANUAID®, MAGNESIA-KAINIT®, SOLUMOP®, SOLUSOP®, SOLUCMS®, EPSO TOP® and other EPSO® grades. Water-soluble products are used in fertigation, particularly for fruit and vegetables. In the FY2025 Agriculture revenue mix, potassium chloride accounted for 54% and fertilizer specialties 46%.[8][9][10]
Product specifications vary by grade: KALISOP® GRAN. contains 50% K₂O and 44% SO₃; KORN-KALI® contains 38% K₂O, 6% MgO and 12% SO₃; PATENTKALI® contains 30% K₂O, 10% MgO and 44% SO₃; ESTA® KIESERIT GRAN. contains 25% MgO and 52% SO₃; and soluSOP® 52 is fully water-soluble and intended for fertigation or foliar application. K+S also describes C:LIGHT® as a lower-carbon product line made using power-to-heat and renewable European electricity; in FY2025 it represented less than 1% of sales volume.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15]
Its Industry+ portfolio comprises potassium, magnesium and sodium salts in different purity levels and grain sizes for applications including chemical production, food processing, animal nutrition, pharmaceuticals and dialysis, construction, glass, metallurgy, textiles, biotechnology, oil and gas, water softening and batteries. Listed brands include APISAL®, AXAL®, KALISEL®, KASA®, k-DRILL®, NUTRIKS®, REGENIT® and SOLSEL®. Consumer products include CÉRÉBOS®, SALDORO® and VATEL® table salts, AXAL® water-softening salt, REGESOFT® dishwasher salt and packaged de-icing salt.[3][16]
Services include location-specific fertilizer advice from regional agronomists and agricultural research and learning resources. Through REKS, K+S also provides waste-management services such as disposal, tailings-pile covering and saline aluminum-slag recycling.[17][18][19] [8][9][10][3][16][11][12][13][14][15][17][18][19]
Geographic presence
K+S’s FY2025 production-site information shows an operating footprint in Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, and France, with sites including the Werra mines and Zielitz in Germany, Frisia Zout in Harlingen, Bethune in Canada, and Dombasle and Wittenheim in France. Its official site directory also lists a production site in Olomouc-Holice, Czech Republic. The company describes its production locations as spanning Europe and North America, with distribution sites in Africa and Asia.[20][21][22]
FY2025 revenue from external customers was €2,187.9 million in Europe, including €691.1 million in Germany; €269.3 million in North America; €438.9 million in South America; €466.0 million in Asia; and €285.8 million in Africa and Oceania. A separate Agriculture revenue breakdown gives Europe 48%, Germany 11%, South America 17%, Asia 16%, North America 9%, and Others 10%; Germany is listed separately from Europe in that breakdown.[23][24][25]
At year-end FY2025, the workforce table recorded 9,959 permanent and 1,246 temporary employees in Europe; 563 permanent and 24 temporary employees in the Americas; and 205 permanent and 31 temporary employees in Asia, Africa, and Australia. The company identifies Kassel as its registered-office location and lists Saskatoon as its North American head office, Vancouver for logistics and transportation, and Aurora, Illinois for U.S. distribution and sales. Its worldwide directory lists 51 sites on five continents.[26][27][28][29][7] [20][21][22][23][23][23][23][23][23][23][24][25][26][26][26][26][26][26][27][28][29][7][21][22][28][29][7]
Business segments
K+S reports two customer segments, rather than segments as defined under IFRS 8. **Agriculture** comprises its fertilizer business, providing crop-specific plant-nutrition solutions. It generated €678.1 million, approximately **64% of Group revenue**, in Q1 2026.[4][30][31] **Industry+** combines customers in Industry, Consumers and Communities. Its activities include industrial raw materials and specialty products, consumer salts, and de-icing salt for road maintenance. It generated €382.7 million, approximately **36% of Group revenue**, in Q1 2026.[4][3][32][31]
The percentages are approximate shares of reported Q1 2026 Group revenue of €1,060.8 million, calculated from the segment revenues; they are not full-year 2026 figures. Industry, Consumers and Communities are components of the Industry+ customer grouping, not separately reported financial segments.[4][31] [4][30][31][3][32]
Company history
K+S traces its corporate history to 1889, when the company’s roots in Germany’s potash and salt industries began. Potash and salt activities were consolidated in 1970 under Kali und Salz; in 1993, the group combined its German operations with Mitteldeutsche Kali AG, bringing eastern German assets into the business.[33][34] The Werra plant was formed in 1997 by bringing together four sites, and K+S and Solvay established the European Salt Company (esco) in 2002.[35][36]
From the 2000s, K+S expanded internationally: it agreed to acquire Chilean salt producer Sociedad Punta de Lobos in 2006, acquired Morton Salt in 2009, and completed the acquisition of Potash One in 2011, supporting its development of potash operations in Canada.[37][38][39] The Bethune potash mine in Saskatchewan opened in 2017, marking a major expansion of the company’s Canadian production base.[40] In 2019, K+S brought its esco and K+S KALI businesses together under K+S Minerals and Agriculture; in 2021, it completed the sale of its Americas salt business, including Morton Salt, Windsor Salt, and K+S Chile.[41][38] [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]
Sources
- K + S — Full financial report (2025 Y)
- www.kpluss.com[7]
- www.kpluss.com[11]
- www.kpluss.com[12]
- www.kpluss.com[13]
- www.kpluss.com[14]
- www.kpluss.com[15]
- www.kpluss.com[17]
- www.kpluss.com[18]
- www.kpluss.com[19]
- www.kpluss.com[21]
- www.kpluss.com[22]
- www.kpluss.com[28]
- www.kpluss.com[29]
- K + S — Full financial report (2026 Q 1)[31]
- media.k-plus-s.com[33]
- www.basf.com[34]
- www.kpluss.com[35]
- www.kpluss.com[36]
- www.ots.at[37]
- www.kpluss.com[38]
- www.kpluss.com[39]
- www.kpluss.com[40]
- www.kpluss.com[41]
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