Thailand's fertiliser industry
Aid to save
Thailand's cash-strapped
potash mine?
By Jon Fernquest 
Potash is one of the important
chemicals used in the manufacture of fertiliser. Fertiliser is essential to farming.
This also makes fertiliser essential to the prosperity of Thailand and its ASEAN neighbors, still largely agricultural nations.
For this reason, self-sufficiency in fertilizer and the raw materials used to produce fertilizer has long been considered essential.
So, in 1991 the ASEAN states of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Brunei signed a joint venture agreement with Thailand to work together on a Potash mine in Isan (Read the official ASEAN joint venture agreement).
With the economic downturn, the Potash mine has run into difficulties and the Thai government may have to bailout the mining company.
That is what today's article from the Bangkok Post is about:
(Note: from the 1960s attempts to build a domestic fertiliser industry in Thailand have faced many difficulties ranging from long delays, environmental protests, to an inability to raise capital. Read a previous article about problems in Thailand's mining and Thailand's fertilizer industry and for some background read Danny Unger (1998) Building Social Capital in Thailand: Fibers, Finance, and Infrastructure, Cambridge University Press, pages 152-153, at Thailand Information Center, sixth floor main library, Chulalongkorn Library).
Lifeline for potash firm
Government weighs giving B100m in aidBy: CHATRUDEE THEPARAT
2/07/2009
Government to throw B100m lifeline to potash operator.
The government may inject up to 100 million baht in the cash-strapped Asean Potash Mining Co, a joint venture between Asean governments and Thai investors.
A committee of economic ministers, chaired by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, yesterday directed Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij to study how to best help the struggling company that operates a potash mine in Chaiyaphum.
Financially beleaguered Asean Potash Mining is seeking new partners and raising capital to ease liquidity problems.
Founded in 1990, the company is 71% owned by Thai investors including the Finance Ministry, TMB Bank and Bangchak Petroleum Plc. The remaining 29% stake is held by Asean member states including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
The Finance Ministry owns about 22.08% of the company.
APMC operates one of the country's two potash mines with high yield potential. The domestic potash industry is crucial for Thailand because it saves the country billions of baht in imports of the mineral, mainly for fertiliser production, and employs more than 1,000 people in Isan, said Putthipong Punnakan, vice-minister to the Prime Minister's Office.
Potash is one of the most costly raw materials for making fertiliser, because of high demand and low global supplies. About 50 million tonnes of potash is consumed globally each year, an amount roughly equal to worldwide production.
Potash fetches US$1,000 per tonne....
(Source: Bangkok Post, business, Lifeline for potash firm, Government weighs giving B100m in aid, CHATRUDEE THEPARAT, 2/07/2009, link)
fertiliser - food
for plants, chemicals or natural materials such as cow manure (waste)
put on plants to make them grow more successfully (See Wikipedia)
potash - a potassium chemical used in glass, soap and fertiliser (See Wikipedia)
a potash operator - a company that mines and/or sells potash
aid - help given in the form of money
bailout - help someone out of difficult situation by giving them money (See glossary)
cash-strapped - has no cash (to continue business operations)
prosperity - being financially sucessful, when people are earning a lot of money
self-sufficiency - able to produce what you need without the help of others
joint venture - when two or more companies join together to invest in and run a business
throw a lifeline - try to save the life of (throw a rope to someone drowning in the water)
X weighs doing Y - X thinks over before making decision to do Y
the government weighs giving B100m in aid - the government is thinking about giving B100m in aid
inject money into Y - put money into Y
Asean Potash Mining Co (APMC) - a company that runs an underground Potash mine in "Bamnet Narong District, Chaiyaphum Province in the northeastern Thailand. The concession contains significant high-grade potash, a resource essential for fertilizer due to its high potassium content." (Source: Team Consulting Group)
struggling - trying very hard to succeed, with difficulty
beleaguered - experiencing a lot of difficulties and opposition (while trying to do and achieve something)
raise capital - get investors to invest their money in a business (either as stock shareholder owners or by loan extending creditors)
liquidity problems - don't have enough cash to do what you need to do or can't get a loan (example: cash to run a business)
ease liquidity problems - get the cash necessary to continue business operations
a stake - owning part of a company
potential - something that might happen in the future
high yield potential - might produce a lot in the future
crucial - important and necessary
raw material - a material that is used to manufacture more complex products, for example steel is a raw material used in the manufacturing of automobiles
X fetches Y - X can be sold for price Y
potash - a potassium chemical used in glass, soap and fertiliser (See Wikipedia)
a potash operator - a company that mines and/or sells potash
aid - help given in the form of money
bailout - help someone out of difficult situation by giving them money (See glossary)
cash-strapped - has no cash (to continue business operations)
prosperity - being financially sucessful, when people are earning a lot of money
self-sufficiency - able to produce what you need without the help of others
joint venture - when two or more companies join together to invest in and run a business
throw a lifeline - try to save the life of (throw a rope to someone drowning in the water)
X weighs doing Y - X thinks over before making decision to do Y
the government weighs giving B100m in aid - the government is thinking about giving B100m in aid
inject money into Y - put money into Y
Asean Potash Mining Co (APMC) - a company that runs an underground Potash mine in "Bamnet Narong District, Chaiyaphum Province in the northeastern Thailand. The concession contains significant high-grade potash, a resource essential for fertilizer due to its high potassium content." (Source: Team Consulting Group)
struggling - trying very hard to succeed, with difficulty
beleaguered - experiencing a lot of difficulties and opposition (while trying to do and achieve something)
raise capital - get investors to invest their money in a business (either as stock shareholder owners or by loan extending creditors)
liquidity problems - don't have enough cash to do what you need to do or can't get a loan (example: cash to run a business)
ease liquidity problems - get the cash necessary to continue business operations
a stake - owning part of a company
potential - something that might happen in the future
high yield potential - might produce a lot in the future
crucial - important and necessary
raw material - a material that is used to manufacture more complex products, for example steel is a raw material used in the manufacturing of automobiles
X fetches Y - X can be sold for price Y
