Jordan-based Arab Potash Company (APC) has registered a 28 per cent drop in its net profit for the third quarter which fell to JD119.8 million ($168.6 million) after taxes and provisions from  JD167.4 million last year.

The net revenues for the same period too dropped to JD416.6 million from JD478.8 million last year, said the company in its statement.

Commenting on the results, chairman Al Sarayrah, said: "APC faced challenges during this year due to two main reasons: The first was instability in the global market following the collapse of the Russia-Belorussia cartel last August, which produced 35 per cent of global production."

The other reason was the rise in costs of production in the period 2012-2013 that included the cost of electricity, fuel, water, and labor. The confluence of these factors raised APC's cost of production to be among the top third of potash producers in terms of cost of production, he noted.

On the future outlook, Al Sarayrah said, "The outlook for APC was positive because the company absorbed these shocks and continued to realize profits. APC also succeeded in maintaining its coalitions with its principal markets and clients, and it will return to production at full capacity as soon as stability returns to the market."-TradeArabia News Service