A POTASH firm says it has started work on a £38m development to dominate the global fertiliser market.

ICL Fertilizers, in Boulby, east Cleveland, is building a processing plant for the mineral polyhalite.

Bosses say the project, which received financial support from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, will support plans to increase production from 130,000 tonnes a year to more than 600,000 tonnes annually.

They say the factory will give the company a crucial foothold in the polyhalite market, adding it is the only firm in the world to be selling the product, known as Polysulphate.

ICL, which runs the former Cleveland Potash mine, says studies show there are more than one billion tonnes of polyhalite at its Boulby site.

David Zvida, ICL Fertilizers’ managing director and general manager, welcomed Stefan Borgas, chief executive of its parent firm, to see the building work, and said the development was proof of its progress.

He added: “Polyhalite is the future and I’m delighted we’ve taken this step to making sure Boulby remains a leader in polyhalite production.”

The Northern Echo last month exclusively revealed ICL was launching separate £50m plans to build a granulation plant to help ramp up polyhalite production.

The factory could open in three years, turning hundreds of thousands of tonnes of fine polyhalite into granules for agricultural use, which it says is preferred by farmers.

The work comes as rival Sirius Minerals pushes on with its own plans for the York Potash Project, near Whitby, which aims to extract polyhalite from underneath the North York Moors National Park.

Proposals for the mine and mineral transport system are due to receive approval from Redcar and Cleveland Council this week.

Sirius says the plans, which also need approval from the North York Moors National Park Authority, will see it eventually mine 13 million tonnes of polyhalite every year, create 1,040 direct jobs, support 1,010 in the construction phase, and deliver £1.2bn through exports.