Compass Minerals International

What Compass Minerals International does

Compass Minerals International, Inc. is a publicly traded essential minerals producer (NYSE: CMP) headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, founded in 1993 and operating across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom with approximately 1,800 employees. The company organizes its business into four segments — Salt, Plant Nutrition, Magnesium Chloride, and Sustainable Storage — and generated FY2025 revenue of $1.24 billion, with Salt contributing $1,022.5 million and Plant Nutrition contributing $206.3 million. Core operations center on the mining and processing of underground salt, sulfate of potash (SOP), and magnesium chloride from deposits including the world's largest underground salt mine at Goderich, Ontario (over 7 million tons annual capacity), supplemented by facilities in Cote Blanche (Louisiana), Ogden (Utah), Lyons (Kansas), and Winsford (U.K.). The Plant Nutrition segment produces Protassium+ SOP at the Ogden facility for chloride-free crop nutrition, and the Magnesium Chloride business holds 19% of the global market. A small but distinct Sustainable Storage subsidiary, DeepStore, leverages a retired U.K. mine section for records management.

Name

Compass Minerals International

Legal name

Compass Minerals International, Inc.

Website

https://compassminerals.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Compass Minerals International is a publicly traded essential minerals producer of highway deicing salt, sulfate of potash plant nutrients, and magnesium chloride, serving municipalities, agricultural operations, industrial customers, and consumer retail channels across North America and the United Kingdom.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Minerals

NAICS

Nonmetallic Mineral Mining and Quarrying (2123), Mining (except Oil and Gas) (212), Ground or Treated Mineral and Earth Manufacturing (327992)

SIC

Mining & Quarrying Of Nonmetallic Minerals (No Fuels) (1400), Abrasive, Asbestos & Misc Nonmetallic Mineral Prods (3290)

akta.pro primary industry

Industrial Salt Mining (Rock Salt, Brine) (IMAKAGAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Magnesite & Magnesium Minerals Mining (IMAKAGAN), Exploration & Resource Development (Critical Minerals) (IMAKAFAL), Magnesite & Magnesium Minerals (IMAEAFAL), Mineral & Rock Dust Amendments (Basalt, Rock Phosphate, Greensand) (AFABADAJ)

Keywords

• Highway deicing salt
• Sulfate of potash
• Magnesium chloride
• Specialty plant nutrients
• Water softener salts

Headquarters

HQ city

Overland Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Salt Products: Revenue from production and sale of various salt products including highway deicing salt, consumer deicing products, food-grade salt, industrial salt, and water softener salts. Salt segment generated $1,022.5 million in FY2025 revenue.
2. Plant Nutrition: Revenue from sulfate of potash (SOP) and related plant nutrition products for agricultural use. Plant Nutrition segment generated $206.3 million in FY2025 revenue, growing 14% year-over-year.
3. Magnesium Chloride: Revenue from magnesium chloride production, where Compass Minerals is the largest U.S. producer. Products serve industrial, agricultural, and consumer applications.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Compass Minerals International mines, processes, and sells essential mineral products across four segments: Salt (highway deicing, consumer ice melters, water softener, food-grade, industrial), Plant Nutrition (sulfate of potash for agriculture), Magnesium Chloride (deicing, industrial, agricultural applications), and Sustainable Storage (underground records storage in the U.K.). The company operates the world's largest underground salt mine at Goderich, Ontario, plus 10 additional facilities across the U.S., Canada and the U.K.

Product overview

Compass Minerals International is a leading global provider of essential mineral products organized into four core business segments: Salt, Plant Nutrition, Magnesium Chloride, and Sustainable Storage. The Salt segment includes consumer deicing products under the Safe Step® brand (Sure Paws®, Mag Chloride 8300®, Calcium Chloride 7300, Enviro-Blend® 6300, Dual Blend® 4300, Rock Salt 3300), consumer and professional water softener salts under SureSoft®, ProSoft®, Nature's Own®, and K-Life® brands, bulk highway deicing salt, and food/industrial grade salts. The Plant Nutrition segment offers sulfate of potash under Protassium+® and agricultural products under American Stockman® and Sifto® Canadian Stockman® brands. Magnesium Chloride products serve deicing, agricultural, and industrial applications. The Sustainable Storage segment provides DeepStore® records management services in the U.K. The company operates 11 production and packaging facilities with more than 1,800 employees across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Safe Step: Ice melter products for residential deicing including Sure Paws (pet-friendly), Mag Chloride 8300, Calcium Chloride 7300, Enviro-Blend 6300, Dual Blend 4300, Rock Salt 3300
• SureSoft
• ProSoft
• Nature's Own
• K-Life
• Protassium+
• American Stockman
• Sifto
• IceAway
• FreezGard
• Thawrox
• DustGard
• Industrial Purity
• MagnaPro
• Special Purity
• DeepStore

Products and services

• Safe Step Consumer Ice Melters Consumer ice melter brand offering a full lineup of deicing products for residential and commercial winter weather applications.
• SureSoft Water Softener Salts Consumer water softener salt brand offering products for household water conditioning.
• ProSoft Professional Water Care Professional water care brand offering salt products exclusively through water care professionals and pool professionals.
• Nature's Own Potassium Chloride Cubes Low-sodium water softener product using potassium chloride cubes for sodium-conscious households.
• K-Life Premium Potassium Chloride Premium potassium chloride water softener crystals for commercial use, certified to NSF/ANSI/CAN 60.
• Protassium+ Sulfate of Potash Sulfate of potash plant nutrient product for agriculture, providing chloride-free potassium for improved crop yield and quality.
• American Stockman Agricultural Salt Agricultural salt product brand serving the farming community with essential mineral supplements for crops and livestock.
• Sifto Canadian Salt Brand Canadian brand offering agricultural, food grade, pool, water softener, and industrial salt products.
• Highway Deicing Salt (Bulk) Bulk road salt products for municipal and transportation agency deicing applications.
• DeepStore Secure Records Storage Secure records storage and management services utilizing a retired underground mine section in the U.K., offering sustainable document storage solutions.
• Industrial Purity Industrial Salt Industrial-grade salt products for chemical processing, water treatment, and various manufacturing applications.
• MagnaPro Industrial Magnesium Chloride Industrial magnesium chloride product line for specialized industrial applications.
• Special Purity Food-Grade Salt Food-grade salt product line for food processing applications.

Quantifiable outcome

• Salt segment revenue up 37% year-over-year in Q1 fiscal 2026 driven by robust sales volume growth
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• EnergyX (Energy Exploration Technologies Inc.)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 May 2026EnergyX has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with Compass Minerals to develop Project Powder Hound, a commercial-scale direct lithium extraction facility near Utah's Great Salt Lake. EnergyX will design, fund, construct and operate the facility using its proprietary GET-Lit technology, leveraging approximately 2.4 million metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent resources on Compass Minerals-owned land. The approximately $400 million investment across two phases will produce up to 30,000 tons per annum of lithium carbonate equivalent, generating over $600 million in annual revenue at full build and nearly 200 jobs.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• K+S AG: German-based global salt and potash producer with similar deicing, food-grade, and agricultural salt exposure. Directly comparable by product mix (rock salt, SOP/MOP, industrial minerals) and customer base (municipalities, agriculture, industry) to Compass Minerals' Salt and Plant Nutrition segments.
• Morton Salt (Stone Canyon Industries): North America's most recognized salt brand across deicing, food, water softening, and industrial categories. A direct peer in the U.S. highway deicing and consumer salt markets, and a primary competitor to Compass's Safe Step, FreezGard, and Thawrox brands.
• Intrepid Potash: U.S. specialty potash producer (including SOP/MOP) serving agricultural markets with a similar mid-cap, asset-heavy operating model. Closely comparable to Compass's Plant Nutrition segment in customer base, commodity exposure, and capital intensity.
• ICL Group: Israel-based specialty fertilizers and minerals company producing potash, phosphate, and magnesium-based products for agriculture and industry. Comparable to Compass across SOP/MgCl2 plant nutrition, industrial minerals, and exposure to chloride-free specialty fertilizer demand.

Broad incumbents

• Cargill (Salt segment – historical): Operated a major North American salt business (acquired by Stone Canyon in 2021) that competed directly with Compass in deicing and industrial salt. Compass's 'advantaged position following Cargill's industry exit' highlights Cargill as the most relevant structural benchmark for share-of-shelf and deicing market dynamics.
• Nutrien: World's largest crop inputs provider, with significant potash and SOP capacity serving the same agricultural customers as Compass's Protassium+. A broad incumbent benchmark for plant nutrition pricing, distribution, and competitive dynamics, though it operates at much larger scale.
• Olin Corporation: Major U.S. chlor-alkali and chlorinated organics producer that consumes brine and salt as feedstock for chlorine and caustic soda. Comparable to Compass's industrial salt and magnesium chloride customer base as a downstream industrial buyer and benchmark for industrial minerals end-market demand.

Emerging players

• Albemarle Corporation: Global lithium and specialty chemicals producer with direct exposure to the EV/battery lithium supply chain that Compass is targeting via Project Powder Hound. Comparable as a benchmark for commercial-scale lithium development economics and downstream offtake dynamics relevant to Compass's emerging DLE ambition.
• Standard Lithium: Direct lithium extraction developer targeting resources in the Smackover Formation, including Arkansas projects. Comparable to Compass's EnergyX/Project Powder Hound initiative as a peer DLE developer pursuing commercial-scale lithium from brine resources with similar technology and execution risk profile.

Regional players

• Iron Mountain Incorporated: Global records storage and information management company operating secure underground and above-ground storage facilities. Comparable to Compass's DeepStore subsidiary (U.K. underground records storage) as a regional/services peer in the secure storage adjacency.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/compass-minerals
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Compliance8 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Compass Minerals International