Intervention rescues jobs at mining company

Sep 23 2009 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

GOVERNMENT intervention has helped to secure jobs at the North East's biggest mining firm by saving a £9m deal with a Brazilian client from the brink of collapse.

The 1,000-strong workforce at a mine operated by Cleveland Potash Ltd (CPL) in the North York Moors National Park feared for their jobs as a deal with one of its major clients looked doomed.

CPL was preparing to make some tough cost-cutting choices at its Boulby mine if the company failed to secure the insurance it needed to fulfil a £9m order with Brazilian fertiliser conglomerate, Fertipar.

This deal looked to be hanging in the balance after CPL's parent company, Israel Chemicals Limited, had its group credit insurance limit reduced at the height of the credit crunch.

This would not only have had implications for the 1,000-strong workforce at CPL but 4,000 more workers in its supply chain.

However, intervention from government-run UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD), helped to save the contract and secure a brighter future for the region’s potash miners.

CPL sought advice from its UKTI international trade advisor, Keith Stockdale who has been working with the company over a number of years, helping them identify contacts and supporting them in new markets.

He approached ECGD, the UK's official export credit agency, about providing the insurance support that the private market was unable to deliver.