Intrepid Potash (IPI)

A Small US Potash and Trio Producer

Intrepid Potash's filings teach two traps: the short ton, and a price and a cost per ton measured on different bases. It is a small US producer of potash and Trio, a potassium, magnesium and sulphur fertiliser (the mineral langbeinite), with a small oilfield solutions business alongside; it makes no nitrogen or phosphate. FY2025 adjusted EBITDA was $63.1M. It produced 280,000 short tons of potash and sold 289,000; the figures per ton below use tons sold.

Intrepid reports per short ton of 2,000 lb (0.907 metric tonnes). This profile keeps its figures on that basis and gives metric equivalents where they sit beside other producers.

Price and Cost on Different Bases

Intrepid's potash price less its potash cost per ton is not a margin. In FY2025 it realised $353 a short ton for potash, net of freight, and its cost of goods sold (COGS) was $328 a short ton. The price leaves out $24.6M of by-product sales, such as salt and magnesium chloride. The cost spreads the whole segment's costs, by-products included, over potash tons alone. One less the other gives $25, which understates what the segment earned.

The filed figure is the potash segment's gross margin: $18.2M, or $63 a short ton sold, after depreciation. Trio realised $367 a short ton against COGS of $240, and its segment gross margin of $33.4M was larger than potash's. The EBITDA per tonne guide sets Intrepid's potash margin beside other producers'.

How the Numbers Read

Intrepid had net cash of $81M at 31 December 2025: cash of $83.5M less finance leases of $2.8M, with its revolving credit facility undrawn.

How You Would Value a Producer Like This

Rebuild earnings at a long-run potash price, but only once price and cost sit on the same basis and unit. Intrepid's figures are per short ton and net of freight; the world benchmark is per metric tonne and landed in Brazil. The mid-cycle earnings guide sets out the method.

Scale matters here. Intrepid's 280,000 short tons (about 254,000 t) compare with Mosaic's 8.8M t and Nutrien's 13.97M t, so fixed costs sit on few tons and a change in output moves cost per ton sharply.

What to Watch in the Financials

Segment gross margin per ton. Each year's potash and Trio figures show what the segments earn on a basis that matches price and cost.

Key Risks

Weather. Much of Intrepid's potash comes from solar evaporation, where brine is left in ponds for the sun to dry, so weather moves output. At this size, lost output lifts cost per ton quickly.