Compass Minerals reported that fourth-quarter 2020 winter weather activity in its North American-served market was below fourth-quarter 2019 levels, but in-line with the 10-year historic average.

Due to the timing of the majority of snow events falling late in the fourth quarter, the company anticipates the full effect of related salt sales to be realized during the first quarter of 2021 as customers begin to replenish inventories.

“Although we experienced a relatively average number of snow events during the fourth quarter in our North American markets, December was rather back weighted in terms of that event count, contributing to lower year-over-year salt sales for the period,” said President and CEO Kevin S. Crutchfield. “From an operational perspective, we continue to be pleased with the impacts of our optimization efforts on both production agility and efficiency. As we maintain our sharp focus on employee health and safety, improved performance and balance sheet strength, we are increasingly well-positioned to serve our customers’ needs in 2021 and beyond.”

The company sold approximately 2.2 million tons of highway deicing salt products during the fourth-quarter 2020 period compared to fourth-quarter 2019 sales volumes of 2.9 million tons. This total includes all highway maintenance products sold in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., as well as rock salt sold to the chemical industry.

You can read the full press release here.