Interim report for the period January 1 – December 31, 2023
Cinis Fertilizer ready for commissioning of the production facility in Örnsköldsvik
A year ago, Cinis Fertilizer broke ground for its first production facility. During 2023, the company has invested and built a production facility for environmentally friendly potassium sulfate in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. During the first quarter of 2024, the installation work will be completed, and the equipment will be tested with commissioning planned for the end of March. Production of potassium sulfate and sodium chloride will begin a few weeks after the completion of the test period, and deliveries to customers will begin in the second quarter of 2024. In parallel, pre-design of Cinis Fertilizer’s production facility in Kentucky, USA, has begun.
October – December
- Net sales amounted to SEK 0.0 million (0.0)
- Operating profit/loss amounted to SEK -14.0 million (-8.8)
- Profit/loss after financial items amounted to SEK -11.3 million (-8.2)
- Earnings per share, before and after dilution, amounted to SEK -0.16 (-0.11)
- Cash flow from operating activities after changes in working capital amounted to SEK -19.9 million (19.9)
Full year 2023
- Net sales amounted to SEK 0.0 million (0.0)
- Operating profit/loss amounted to SEK -32.6 million (-24.1)
- Profit/loss after financial items amounted to SEK -32.6 million (-23.6)
- Earnings per share, before and after dilution, amounted to SEK -0.45 (-0.32)
- Cash flow from operating activities after changes in working capital amounted to SEK 10.7 million (-9.1)
Significant events during the quarter
- Following the extensive investments now being made in green industrial projects in North America, Cinis Fertilizer has decided to prioritize the construction of its planned plant in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, USA, before the one in Skellefteå, Sweden
- The production facility in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, was connected to the electricity grid with access to fossil-free electricity
Significant events after the quarter
- Cinis Fertilizer has signed a letter of intent with the Japanese company Itochu Corporation with the goal of establishing operations in Asia. The companies intend to cooperate in order to enter into binding sales and delivery agreements and to study the conditions for producing environmentally friendly mineral fertilizers in Asia
- Cinis Fertilizer has secured supplies of inputs for the start of production according to plan and for full production during the rest of the year
- In February, Cinis Fertilizer completed the recruitment of around thirty employees for the production facility in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden
- The Board of Directors proposes that no payment of dividend will be made for 2023
CEO's comment
Cinis Fertilizer's products an important part of the green transition
A year ago, we broke ground to mark the start of construction for our facility in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. Since then, the work has progressed according to plan thanks to the great commitment of the entire organization and of all our partners. I am proud of what we achieved in 2023! Now we are looking forward to starting production and taking the next step to establish Cinis Fertilizer as a significant player in several markets.
Cinis Fertilizer contributes to reduced dependence on fossil fuels and reduction of the climate impact that results from the production of mineral fertilizers, such as emissions of greenhouse gases. The green transition happening all over the world will have a major impact on raw material flows globally and in this new landscape we will become the obvious alternative for the production of potassium sulfate when all manufacturers strive to “remove the carbon from the process industry” and switch to fossil-free production of fertilizers and other chemicals. Our business model will create profitable growth and provide our stakeholders better opportunities to reach their goals for a sustainable future. Our fossil-free and energy efficient process for producing potassium sulfate reduces carbon footprint and increases the yield in food production, especially important in areas with an arid climate.
Commissioning in Örnsköldsvik
The construction of our facility in Örnsköldsvik is ongoing. We have kept a high pace since the start and managed to keep the time and investment framework. During the fourth quarter, we continued to tick off important milestones, one of which was the connection of the facility to the electricity grid so that we now receive fossil-free electricity at a competitive price.
In the process building, the installation of machinery is ongoing. In a few weeks, various tests will begin, and commissioning is planned for the end of March. In the days to come, the work begins with the final inspection of the various parts of the facility. After we have received the notification that Cinis Fertilizer can put the production facility into use, we are transitioning from project and construction organization to operational organization, ready for commissioning at the end of March and start of production a week or so later.
Without talented employees, no company is successful, and I am very happy to have met several of my new colleagues in the past weeks. We have recently recruited all employees essential to start our facility in Örnsköldsvik. It has been an extensive recruitment process, and I am happy and proud that we received so many more expressions of interest from people with the right skills than we could have hoped for. I thank everyone who contacted us and those we have met for interviews. To those whom we have unfortun¬ately not had the opportunity to hire, I would like to say that we are grateful that you applied for employment with us and wish you all the best in your future career.
Production of potassium potash
An important part of our production of environmentally friendly mineral fertilizer is that we receive deliveries of sodium sulfate. At the end of 2023, our partner Northvolt told us that they had suffered production delays. This affects their deliveries of sodium sulfate to us, and we have therefore signed agreements with additional suppliers who can deliver sodium sulfate, as a raw material as well as a residual product from their manufacturing. The agreements entail slightly increased costs for the purchase of inputs and the flows of raw material will be phased out in line with increasing deliveries with sodium sulfate as a residual product. However, the company’s profitability is mainly dependent on our product’s price premium compared to the input product sodium chloride (MOP), where we see a stable positive price trend since autumn 2023. Cinis Fertilizer’s projected production volumes for the full year 2024 amount to around 65,000 tons of potassium sulfate and around 40,000 tons of sodium chloride.
Cinis Fertilizer strengthen its cooperation with battery manufacturers
The past year has strengthened my belief that Cinis Fertilizer will be an important partner for several producers of batteries of various types, including lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries. Our patent portfolio includes granted patents regarding the production process as well as the recently granted patent for the treatment of residual products containing sodium sulfate from sodium ion battery manufacturing which we expect to be a new major future source of residual material. We also have patent applications regarding the treatment of residual products containing sodium sulfate from battery manufacturing facilities, battery recycling facilities and steel production facilities.
The market for the production of electric vehicle batteries is growing rapidly in North America as a result of the favorable government incentive programs introduced in the United States and Canada. Work on our planned facility in Kentucky is proceeding at a high pace. We have strong support in our partner Ascend Elements and have been met with great interest from all the contacts we have made at the local and state level. In the coming months, we are focusing on pre-design and establishing collaborations with local design and construction companies to establish time schedules and investment frames.
We receive frequent evidence that Cinis Fertilizer’s competence and unique process for the production of environmentally friendly mineral fertilizers arouses interest in several countries, even outside Europe. In January, we signed a letter of intent with the Japanese corporation Itochu. We will cooperate in matters such as purchasing and sales as well as potential establishment in Asia. Itochu has a broad business that includes agriculture, chemicals and mineral fertilizers and I see great opportunities to jointly achieve good results through our know-how combined with Itochu’s focus on sustainability, their broad network and financial resources.
Financing
To ensure that Cinis Fertilizer can complete ongoing invest¬ment in its first plant, we have an arrangement with existing lenders, Nordea, SEK (Swedish Export Credit Corporation) and EKN to extend the credit facility with SEK 50 million and an overdraft facility from Nordea of SEK 30 million.
The next exciting phase of our journey will soon begin, and you are most welcome to join!
Jakob Liedberg, CEO
For full report, please see attached file.
For more information, please contact:
Jakob Liedberg, CEO
jakob@cinis-fertilizer.com
+46 768 58 12 86
Charlotte Becker, IR and Communications & Marketing director
charlotte@cinis-fertilizer.com
+46 730 37 07 07
Henrik Andersson, CFO
henrik@cinis-fertilizer.com
+46 705 70 87 53
This information is such information that Cinis Fertilizer is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU’s Market Abuse Regulation. This report has been prepared with a Swedish and an English version. In the event of any discrepancies between the two, the Swedish version applies. This information was published, through the agency of the contact persons above, on February 14, 2024, at 08:00 a.m. CET.
About Cinis Fertilizer
Cinis Fertilizer is a Swedish green-tech company aiming to produce the world’s most environmentally friendly mineral fertilizer, potassium sulfate (SOP), by recycling industrial waste products from battery manufacturing and recycling, as well as the pulp industry and other industries. The patent protected technology will use half as much energy as today’s production methods and the result is a fertilizer with a close to zero carbon footprint, a unique and circular contribution enabling sustainable agriculture. FNCA Sweden AB is Certified Adviser. For further information, please visit www.cinis-fertilizer.com.
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