The Dead Sea Works (Hebrew: מפעלי ים המלח, Mif'alei Yam HaMelakh) is an Israeli potash plant in Sdom, on the Dead Sea coast of Israel.
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Contents
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History
The company was established in 1930 by Moshe Novomeysky. It was known then as the Palestine Potash Company. From 1936, it was a profitable enterprise despite attempts by the German potash cartel to strangle the business by dumping potash at below-cost prices.[1]
In the Israel War of Independence in 1948, the northern half of the production facilities was occupied by the Jordanian Legion, which destroyed the plant and looted the machinery.[2]
In 1951, the company was nationalized by the Israeli government under the Ministry of Development.[3] In 1953, it was renamed the Dead Sea Works.[4]
Today
Dead Sea Works is the world's fourth largest producer and supplier of potash products.[5] The company also produces magnesium chloride, industrial salts, de-icers, bath salts, table salt, and raw materials for the cosmetic industry.[6] It has customers in over 60 countries. Dead Sea Works is part of the Fertilizers Division of Israel Chemicals Ltd.[7] It is located in the southern basin of the Dead Sea and the extracted chemicals are exported around the world.[8]
Rather than extracting potash and other minerals from the Dead Sea by mining them directly, the company makes use of the energy of the sun by innovating 2-meter deep evaporation ponds.[9] Dead Sea Works has been blamed by conservationists for polluting the environment and contributing to the Dead Sea's slow demise.[10][11]
See also
References
- ^ The political economy of Israel: From ideology to stagnation, Yakir Plessner
- ^ The political economy of Israel: From ideology to stagnation, Yakir Plessner
- ^ The Building of the Israeli State Sector, Case Study: The Palestine Potash Ltd.
- ^ Dead Sea Works
- ^ Case Study: Dead Sea Works - Sdom, Israel
- ^ Case Study: Dead Sea Works - Sdom, Israel
- ^ Dead Sea Works
- ^ John Ward Anderson (2005-05-19). "For Dead Sea, a Slow and Seemingly Inexorable Death". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/18/AR2005051802400_pf.html. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
- ^ Geological significance of the Dead Sea
- ^ Estrin, Daniel (13 June 2011). "Dead Sea threatened both by shrinking and flooding". msnbc.com. Associated Press (Ein Bokek, Israel). http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43376649/ns/us_news-environment/t/dead-sea-threatened-both-shrinking-flooding/. Retrieved 9 July 2011. "Environmentalists accuse the company of profiting at the expense of the ecology."
- ^ Daniel Obrist et al., Bromine-induced oxidation of mercury in the mid-latitude atmosphere, Nature Geoscience, 28 november 2010
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dead Sea Works |
- Company website
- 19th century boat of British explorer displayed at Dead Sea Works
- "Wealth from the Dead Sea" Popular Mechanics, November 1930, pp 794-798
Coordinates: 31°10′16″N 35°26′28″E / 31.1711091°N 35.4411287°E
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