Editing Potash (section)

==Consumption==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="float:right"
|+Production of potash and reserves at some current mines (being <2% of global reserves)<br/>(both in <chem>K2O</chem> equivalent)<br/>(2021, in million tonnes)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=January 2023 |title=Potash Mineral Commodity Summaries 2023 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2023/mcs2023-potash.pdf |access-date=6 September 2023 |website=[[United States Geological Survey]]}}</ref>
! Country
! Production
! Reserves
|-
|[[Canada]]
|align=right|   14.2 (28.57%)
|align=right| 1,100 (33.33%)
|-
|[[Russia]]
|align=right|    9.1 (17.14%)
|align=right| 400 (12.12%)
|-
|[[Belarus]]
|align=right|    7.6 (16.48%)
|align=right|  750 (22.73%)
|-
|[[China]]
| align="right" |    6.0 (14.76%)
| align="right" |  170 (5.15%)
|-
|[[Germany]]
| align="right" |    2.8 (6.90%)
| align="right" |  150 (4.55%)
|-
|[[Israel]]
|align=right|    2.4 (5.14%)
|align=right|   Large (?%)
|-
|[[Jordan]]
|align=right|    1.6 (3.37%)
|align=right|   Large (?%)
|-
|[[Chile]]
| align="right" |    0.9 (1.85%)
| align="right" |   100 (3.03%)
|-
|[[United States]]
| align="right" |    0.5 (1.04%)
| align="right" |  220 (6.67%)
|-
|[[Spain]]
| align="right" |    0.4 (0.79%)
| align="right" |   68 (2.06%)
|-
|[[Brazil]]
| align="right" |    0.3 (0.58%)
| align="right" |  2.3 (0.01%)
|-
|'''Other countries'''
| align="right" | 0.4 (0.76%)
| align="right" |   300 (9.09%)
|- class="sortbottom"
|'''World total'''
| align="right" |   46.3 (100.00%)
| align="right" | >3,300 (100.00%)
|}

===Fertilizers===
Potassium is the third major plant and crop nutrient after [[nitrogen]] and [[phosphorus]]. It has been used since [[Ancient history|antiquity]] as a [[soil]] [[fertilizer]] (about 90% of current use).<ref name=usgs/> Fertilizer use is the main driver behind potash consumption, especially for its use in fertilizing crops that contribute to high-protein diets.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|page=23}} As of at least 2010, more than 95% of potash is mined for use in agricultural purposes.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|page=24}}

Elemental potassium does not occur in nature because it reacts violently with water.<ref name="HollemanAF">{{cite book|publisher = Walter de Gruyter|year = 1985|edition = 91–100|isbn = 978-3-11-007511-3|title = Lehrbuch der Anorganischen Chemie|author = Arnold F. Holleman, Egon Wiberg and Nils Wiberg|chapter = Potassium| language = de}}</ref> As part of various compounds, potassium makes up about 2.6% of the [[Earth's crust]] by mass and is the seventh most abundant element, similar in abundance to sodium at approximately 1.8% of the crust.<ref name="Greenwood">{{cite book|last=Greenwood|first= Norman N|year=1997|title=Chemistry of the Elements |url=https://archive.org/details/chemistryelement00earn_612|url-access=limited|edition=2|place=Oxford|publisher= Butterworth-Heinemann|isbn=978-0-08-037941-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/chemistryelement00earn_612/page/n89 69]}}</ref> Potash is important for agriculture because it improves water retention, yield, nutrient value, taste, color, texture<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|page=24}} and disease resistance of food crops. It has wide application to fruit and vegetables, rice, wheat and other grains, sugar, corn, soybeans, [[palm oil]] and cotton, all of which benefit from the nutrient's quality-enhancing properties.<ref>[http://www.activex.com.au/reports/2008-09/AIV_20081114_ASX_Announ_Potash_Outlook.pdf Potash Price Close to all time highs – Future Outlook] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090918050005/http://www.activex.com.au/reports/2008-09/AIV_20081114_ASX_Announ_Potash_Outlook.pdf |date=2009-09-18 }}. ASX Release (14 November 2008). activex.com.au. Retrieved on 2013-06-21.</ref>

Demand for food and animal feed has been on the rise since 2000. The [[United States Department of Agriculture]]'s [[Economic Research Service]] (ERS) attributes the trend to average annual population increases of 75&nbsp;million people around the world. Geographically, economic growth in Asia and Latin America greatly contributed to the increased use of potash-based fertilizer. Rising incomes in developing countries also were a factor in the growing potash and fertilizer use. With more money in the household budget, consumers added more meat and dairy products to their diets. This shift in eating patterns required more acres to be planted, more fertilizer to be applied and more animals to be fed—all requiring more potash.

After years of trending upward, fertilizer use slowed in 2008. The worldwide economic downturn is the primary reason for the declining fertilizer use, dropping prices, and mounting inventories.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091008015109/http://southernstates.com/articles/ca/potash-global.aspx Potash Around the World]. southernstates.com</ref><ref>[http://www.indmin.com/Article/2188737/Channel/0/Potash-global-review-tunnel-vision.html "Potash global review: tunnel vision"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331085627/https://www.indmin.com/Article/2188737/Channel/0/Potash-global-review-tunnel-vision.html |date=2022-03-31 }}, ''Industrial Minerals'', May 2009</ref>

The world's largest consumers of potash are China, the United States, Brazil, and India.<ref name="Potassio Do Brasil">[http://www.potassiodobrasil.com.br/index.php/pagina/view/9/supply-demand#x1 Supply and Demand] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210053902/http://www.potassiodobrasil.com.br/index.php/pagina/view/9/supply-demand#x1 |date=2010-12-10 }}. Potassiodobrasil.com.br. Retrieved on 2013-06-21.</ref>  Brazil imports 90% of the potash it needs.<ref name="Potassio Do Brasil"/> Potash consumption for fertilizers is expected to increase to about 37.8 million tonnes by 2022.<ref name="auto">{{Cite journal|last1=Rawashdeh|first1=Rami Al|last2=Xavier-Oliveira|first2=Emanuel|last3=Maxwell|first3=Philip|date=2016|title=The potash market and its future prospects|journal=Resources Policy|volume=47|pages=154–163|doi=10.1016/j.resourpol.2016.01.011|bibcode=2016RePol..47..154R |issn=0301-4207}}</ref>

Potash imports and exports are often reported in K<sub>2</sub>O ''equivalent'', although fertilizer never contains potassium oxide, per se, because potassium oxide is [[Causticity|caustic]] and [[hygroscopic]].

===Pricing===
At the beginning of 2008, potash prices started a meteoric climb from less than US$200 a tonne to a high of US$875 in February 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.potashinvestingnews.com/354-potash-prices-at-record-high.html|date=February 5, 2009|title=Potash Prices Are Record High|publisher=Potash Investing news|access-date=October 18, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316162444/http://www.potashinvestingnews.com/354-potash-prices-at-record-high.html|archive-date=March 16, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> These subsequently dropped dramatically to an April 2010 low of US$310 level, before recovering in 2011–12, and relapsing again in 2013. For reference, prices in November 2011 were about US$470 per tonne, but as of May 2013 were stable at US$393.<ref>[http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/potash/5-year/ 5 Year Potash Prices and Potash Price Charts – InvestmentMine]. Infomine.com (2013-05-31). Retrieved on 2013-06-21.</ref> After the surprise breakup of the world's largest potash cartel at the end of July 2013, potash prices were poised to drop some 20 percent.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/potash-prices-idUSL6N0H032X20130905|title=Potash prices head for 20 pct drop after cartel disintegrates|date=5 September 2013|access-date=16 April 2019|via=www.reuters.com|newspaper=Reuters}}</ref> At the end of December 2015, potash traded for US$295 a tonne. In April 2016 its price was US$269.<ref>{{cite web|title=Potash Prices and Potash Price Charts|url=http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/potash/|website=InfoMine|access-date=6 September 2016|date=2016-04-30}}</ref> In May 2017, prices had stabilised at around US$216 a tonne down 18% from the previous year. By January 2018, prices have been recovering to around US$225 a tonne.<ref>{{cite web|title=Potash Prices and Potash Price Charts|url=https://ycharts.com/indicators/potassium_chloride_muriate_of_potash_spot_price
|website=ycharts|access-date=18 October 2017|date=2017-06-05}}</ref> World potash demand tends to be price inelastic in the short-run and even in the long run.<ref name="auto"/>

===Other uses===
In addition to its use as a fertilizer, potassium chloride is important in many industrialized economies, where it is used in [[aluminium recycling]], by the [[chloralkali]] industry to produce potassium hydroxide, in metal [[electroplating]], oil-well [[drilling fluid]], snow and ice melting, steel heat-treating, in medicine as a treatment for [[hypokalemia]], and [[water softening]]. Potassium hydroxide is used for industrial water treatment and is the precursor of potassium carbonate, several forms of potassium phosphate, many other potassic chemicals, and soap manufacturing. Potassium carbonate is used to produce [[animal feed]] supplements, [[cement]], [[fire extinguishers]], food products, [[Photographic processing|photographic chemical]]s, and textiles. It is also used in [[brewing]] [[beer]], pharmaceutical preparations, and as a [[catalyst]] for [[synthetic rubber]] manufacturing. Also combined with [[silica sand]] to produce [[potassium silicate]], sometimes known as [[waterglass]], for use in [[paints]] and [[arc welding]] electrodes. These non-fertilizer uses have accounted for about 15% of annual potash consumption in the United States.<ref name=usgs2/>

=== Substitutes ===
No substitutes exist for potassium as an essential plant nutrient and as an essential nutritional requirement for animals and humans.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|page=143}} [[Manure]] and [[glauconite]] (greensand) are low-potassium-content sources that can be profitably transported only short distances to crop fields.<ref name=":0" />