Hi all,A few things I think need to be noted.1) One shipment of...

Hi all,

A few things I think need to be noted.

1) One shipment of kaolin has left Ukraine, bound for Spain. Quality, grade & whiteness unknown. Is this a back order or a new order and were they under contact to export it?

2) Ukraine is currently at war with Russia and unfortunately probably will be for years. How many & how consistently can Ukraine make deliveries under these conditions?

3) If the Russians get control of the kaolin quarries, will they be able to export it or will sanctions disallow this to occur?

4) The worldwide shortage of high quality kaolin comes not only from Ukraine’s lack of production but also China’s dwindling domestic supplies. China has also closed several quarries for various reasons.

5) We have numerous binding offtake agreements with more in the pipeline which will allow us to increase our short term production.

I have an incredible amount of empathy for the Ukrainians and the fact that Putin thinks it’s appropriate to march into a peaceful and democratic country, but unfortunately it will be years before their kaolin production reaches any level remotely near previous levels.

So I think (IMHO) regardless of how much kaolin Ukraine can manage to export it will in no way affect the kaolin we can produce and export. I also hope they get to export as much kaolin as they can.

Regards,

gjn