Denver-based Intrepid Potash cut 5 percent of its workforce in “early 2016,” the company said Monday.
While its headquarters are in Denver, the company operates five potash production facilities in New Mexico and Utah.
A large chunk of the job cuts hit Intrepid’s Carlsbad, N.M. mining operation, where , according to a Jan. 11 story in the Carlsbad Current-Argus newspaper.
As of Jan. 29, the company
, which means about 45 people were let go.
The company could not be reached for comment.
Intrepid announced its fourth quarter earnings on Monday, reporting that sales of potash — minerals containing potassium that can be used in fertilizer and in some other applications — plunged 36 percent from the fourth-quarter of 2014.
Overall fourth-quarter revenues, which ended Dec. 31, declined 56 percent to $42.8 million. The company posted a net loss of $518.3 million, compared to the year-ago’s net income of $5.8 million.
CEO Bob Jornayvaz blamed an oversupply, aggressive pricing by foreign competition and potash price reductions, which were down 20 percent per ton in the quarter.
“The recent series of potash price reductions has created a more dynamic market than we’ve experienced in some time,” Jornayvaz said in a statement.
The company’s stock fell 55 percent on Monday to close at 99 cents.
Tamara Chuang: tchuang@denverpost.com or visit dpo.st/tamara
