Compass Minerals Reports Fourth-Quarter Salt Sales Volume and Snow-Event Data

Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP) reports that robust pre-season demand for deicing products more than offset lower in-season demand resulting from below average snow activity in the company’s core service areas.

“Fourth quarter salt sales began at a record-setting pace as our deicing customers in North America restocked inventories after the extremely severe 2013-2014 winter,” said Fran Malecha, Compass Minerals’ president and chief executive officer. “Thus while winter weather has been mild to date, these results exceeded our prior guidance for salt sales volumes.”

The company sold approximately 4.3 million tons of salt products in the 2014 period compared to previous guidance of 4 million tons. This compares to 4.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2013 when snow events were significantly above the 10-year average. Highway deicing sales volumes alone totaled 3.5 million tons in the 2014 fourth quarter. This result includes all highway maintenance products sold in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., as well as rock salt sold to the chemical industry.

Eleven representative cities in the company’s primary North American highway deicing service area reported a total of 35 snow events during the period compared with a 10-year average of 47.5 events. The same cities posted 69 events in the fourth quarter of 2013.

The company has published its fourth-quarter 2014 highway deicing sales volume and regional weather data on its website at www.compassminerals.com/marketdata. The number of snow events reported may not directly correlate to Compass Minerals’ deicing results due to a variety of factors, including the relative significance to the company of the cities represented and differences in the amount of salt purchased by customers to establish their pre-season stockpiles. The weather data should be used only as an indicator of the year-to-year variations in winter weather conditions in these cities. Compass Minerals draws its weather data from the U.S. National Weather Service and National Climatic Data Center, and Environment Canada without weighting or other adjustments.

About Compass Minerals

Compass Minerals is a leading provider of essential minerals that address nature’s challenges, including salt for winter roadway safety and other consumer, industrial and agricultural uses, and specialty plant nutrition minerals that improve the quality and yield of crops. The company produces its minerals at locations throughout the U.S. and Canada and in the U.K. For more information about Compass Minerals and its products, please visit www.compassminerals.com.