The Hebrew newspaper “The Marker” confirmed that the Israeli chemical giant “ICL” incurred huge losses due to what it described as the “Houthi naval blockade” imposed on Israel, which affected the company’s sales of potash, which was mainly exported through the port of Eilat, which was closed due to the prevention of ships from reaching it.
The Hebrew daily newspaper, which is concerned with business and is published by the Haaretz Group in occupied Palestine, said that “the company’s operating profits decreased in the third quarter of this year due to an increase of $13 million in shipping expenses in the last quarter, compared to the third quarter of 2023, as a result of the impact of the Houthi blockade,” according to the newspaper’s description.
The report indicated that “the blockade forces the company to transport potash to East Asia through a long sea route that goes around Africa and doubles the costs.”
According to the report, the company’s revenues decreased in the third quarter of this year by $96 million.
The report explained that due to the transfer of potash exports to the port of Ashdod, after the closure of the port of Eilat due to the blockade imposed by Sana’a forces, the company was forced to “postpone the export of 120,000 tons to Brazil and the United States in the last quarter, pending the expansion of its export capacity from the port of Ashdod,” referring to the lack of readiness of the alternative port.
The report added that this step affected $70 million in sales. It added that “the operating profits of the company’s potash division decreased by 53% in the third quarter,” and that “the revenues of this division decreased by 26%” due to the decline in sales.
