ICL Group Ltd

Corporate brand

A global specialty minerals and chemicals company serving agriculture, food and engineered-materials markets, organized into four business segments: Growing Solutions, Industrial Products, Phosphate Solutions and Potash.

Last updated October 14, 2026

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Overview

ICL Group Ltd., formerly Israel Chemicals Ltd., is an Israeli multinational manufacturer and marketer of specialty minerals, fertilizers and chemical products. Its business is built around mineral resources and chemical processing, with principal activities serving agriculture, food and engineered-materials customers. The company produces potash, bromine, phosphate-based products, specialty fertilizers, flame retardants, water-treatment solutions and other industrial materials. ICL’s resource base is strongly associated with Israel’s Dead Sea region and the Negev desert. Through the Dead Sea Works and related operations, the company extracts minerals and processes them into products used in farming, food formulation and industrial applications. It also mines or operates mineral assets outside Israel, including underground mining operations in Spain, the United Kingdom, China, the United States and South America. A potash project in Ethiopia’s Danakil region was associated with the company through its acquisition of Allana Potash Corporation. The group is especially significant in bromine and potash. The reference material describes ICL as producing approximately one-third of the world’s bromine and as the sixth-largest potash producer globally. It also identifies the company as a major supplier of specialty fertilizers and phosphates, including Polysulphate, a polyhalite-based fertilizer brand sourced from the Boulby Mine in England. The company’s products are exported widely, with approximately 90% of sales described as exports in the cited material. ICL serves customers in Europe, Asia and other international markets, while remaining one of Israel’s largest industrial companies and a leading domestic supplier of fertilizers and chemicals. Agriculture is one of ICL’s central markets. Its conventional and specialty fertilizers provide potassium, phosphate and other nutrients for crop production, turf and horticulture. Its food business supplies ingredients and functional materials and has expanded into plant-based meat alternatives. In 2019, ICL announced a $20 million investment intended to increase manufacturing capacity and research and development in that field. In 2021, it opened a 10,000-square-foot alternative-protein production facility in St. Louis, Missouri, at a site previously owned by Bayer. ICL has also explored newer materials markets. It began developing a St. Louis facility for lithium iron phosphate processing in 2023 and later received U.S. federal infrastructure grant funding for a larger plant in north St. Louis. The project was cancelled in 2025 after the grant was cut, and a comparable project planned in Spain was also cancelled, according to the supplied reference material. The company is majority controlled by Israel Corporation. ICL has been traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange since 1991 and is also listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ICL; it is included in the Tel Aviv 35 Index. Its global resource and manufacturing footprint gives it a position spanning basic mineral extraction, specialty chemicals and application-specific products. At the same time, its operations have generated environmental, resource-use and geopolitical controversy, particularly around water use and its supply of white phosphorus to military and commercial customers.

History

ICL Group traces its origins to the creation of Israel Chemicals in 1968. The company was formed to develop Israel’s mineral resources, particularly the potash, bromine, magnesium, and other mineral assets associated with the Dead Sea and the Negev. Its early development was linked to Israeli state industrial policy and to the expansion of large-scale extraction and processing infrastructure in southern Israel. The Dead Sea gave the company a distinctive resource base. Its highly mineralized waters contain commercially valuable potassium, bromine, magnesium, and other compounds. ICL and its predecessors developed evaporation ponds, chemical plants, transportation systems, and downstream processing capabilities to convert these resources into fertilizers and industrial chemicals. Potash became a central business, while bromine and magnesium supported a range of industrial applications. The group’s corporate history also reflects Israel’s privatization and capital-market reforms. Israel Chemicals was privatized in stages during the 1990s, and Israel Corporation became its controlling shareholder for an extended period. The company subsequently operated as a publicly traded international group, with shares listed in Israel and American depositary shares traded in the United States. Its global footprint grew through acquisitions, partnerships, and the establishment or purchase of production and distribution assets outside Israel. During the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, ICL expanded beyond basic potash and industrial minerals. It developed and acquired businesses in phosphate fertilizers, feed phosphates, food ingredients, flame retardants, water-treatment chemistry, and other specialty products. These activities gave the group access to customers in agriculture, food processing, construction, transportation, electronics, and industrial manufacturing. Phosphate operations became particularly important because they connected the company’s mining capabilities with higher-value formulations and application-specific products. The company also broadened its agricultural portfolio. In addition to commodity potash and phosphate fertilizers, it developed specialty fertilizers for fertigation, foliar feeding, greenhouse cultivation, turf, horticulture, and controlled-release applications. This move supported a strategy of combining large mineral businesses with products that could command higher margins through formulation, agronomic support, and customer-specific performance. In the 2010s, the company increasingly used the ICL name and positioned itself as a global specialty-minerals group. The change in public identity reflected the international nature of its operations and its intention to be recognized for specialty solutions as well as for Israeli mineral extraction. Management also pursued portfolio restructuring, efficiency programs, selective acquisitions, and investments in downstream products. ICL’s activities have periodically attracted public and regulatory attention because of the environmental sensitivity of the Dead Sea, the company’s use of evaporation ponds and mineral resources, and debates over the economic value and renewal of its Israeli concessions. The group has had to address land, water, brine, infrastructure, emissions, royalties, taxation, and rehabilitation issues while maintaining production. These matters are strategic constraints as well as reputational considerations. From the late 2010s onward, ICL emphasized specialty agriculture, food ingredients, industrial products, and new materials in addition to its core potash business. It invested in specialty phosphate technologies, crop nutrition, bromine-based products, and materials associated with batteries and energy storage. The company has described these areas as ways to use its mineral and chemical expertise in markets with structural growth, including food security, electrification, and resource efficiency. Raviv Zoller served as chief executive from 2018 through 2024. Elad Aharonson was selected as his successor and took over as chief executive in 2025. Under this leadership transition, ICL continued to operate as a global, publicly traded Israeli company with a resource-based foundation and a portfolio spanning agriculture, food, industrial chemistry, and energy-related materials. Its future performance remains sensitive to fertilizer prices, crop economics, energy and logistics costs, regulation, environmental obligations, and the development of higher-value specialty businesses.

2025
Elad Aharonson begins as chief executive
[2]ICL Group managementicl-group.com
Elad Aharonson assumed the role of president and chief executive officer in March 2025.
2024
CEO succession announced
[2]ICL Group managementicl-group.com
ICL announced that Elad Aharonson would succeed Raviv Zoller as chief executive.
2020
ICL expands energy-storage materials strategy
[8]https://www.icl-group.com/icl-group.com
ICL increased its emphasis on battery and energy-storage materials as a potential growth area alongside fertilizers and specialty chemicals.
2018
Raviv Zoller becomes chief executive
[2]ICL Group managementicl-group.com
Raviv Zoller succeeded Stefan Borgas as chief executive.
2012
Stefan Borgas becomes chief executive
[3]ICL Groupen.wikipedia.org
Stefan Borgas was appointed chief executive as the company pursued international growth and portfolio development.
1995
Israel Corporation becomes controlling shareholder
[3]ICL Groupen.wikipedia.org
Israel Corporation became the principal controlling shareholder during the privatization era.
1992
Privatization process begins
[3]ICL Groupen.wikipedia.org
The company began a staged privatization process that changed its ownership structure and prepared it for a more international public-company model.
1968
Israel Chemicals is established
[3]ICL Groupen.wikipedia.org
Israel Chemicals was established to develop and commercialize mineral resources in Israel, including resources from the Dead Sea and the Negev.

Products and positioning

A vertically integrated global specialty-minerals and specialty-chemicals company combining mineral-resource extraction with higher-value agricultural, food, industrial, and energy-material applications.

Agricultural fertilizers
Potash and potassium fertilizers
ICL produces potash and other potassium products, principally using mineral resources associated with the Dead Sea. These products supply potassium for broad-acre agriculture and are sold through international fertilizer markets. Potassium supports plant water regulation, stress tolerance, crop quality, and yield. The business is a major foundation of ICL’s resource-based operations and is exposed to global crop economics, fertilizer pricing, logistics, and agricultural demand.
Phosphate products
Phosphate fertilizers and feed phosphates
ICL’s phosphate portfolio includes fertilizers for crop nutrition and phosphate ingredients used in animal-feed applications. The products are made from phosphate-based raw materials and formulated for different agricultural requirements. Feed phosphates provide phosphorus and calcium in animal nutrition. The portfolio connects ICL’s mining and chemical-processing capabilities with agricultural customers and gives the group exposure to both crop and livestock markets.
Agricultural inputs
Specialty fertilizers
ICL supplies specialty crop-nutrition products for fertigation, foliar application, greenhouse cultivation, horticulture, turf, and controlled-release use. These products are designed to deliver nutrients in ways that match crop timing, soil conditions, irrigation systems, or protected-growing environments. Compared with bulk fertilizers, specialty products rely more heavily on formulation, agronomic advice, application technology, and customer-specific performance.
Food ingredients
Food phosphates and specialty food ingredients
ICL produces phosphate-based food ingredients and functional systems used in processed foods. Depending on the formulation, these ingredients can support texture, moisture retention, emulsification, leavening, stabilization, and processing performance. They are used in areas such as meat, dairy, bakery, beverages, and other food categories. This business is a downstream specialty application of ICL’s phosphate chemistry rather than a commodity fertilizer operation.
Specialty chemicals
Bromine-based products
Bromine compounds are used in flame retardants, industrial chemistry, water treatment, biocides, and other applications. ICL’s access to bromine-rich Dead Sea resources supports an integrated business ranging from raw-material recovery to formulated products and specialty solutions. The portfolio serves manufacturers that require fire performance, microbial control, chemical intermediates, or other bromine-enabled properties.
Industrial minerals and chemicals
Industrial phosphates and magnesium products
ICL manufactures industrial phosphate and magnesium products for applications that can include water treatment, ceramics, construction, industrial processing, and other specialized uses. These materials benefit from controlled chemical composition and application-specific performance. The business illustrates ICL’s strategy of converting mineral resources into differentiated industrial products rather than relying only on unprocessed or lightly processed commodities.
Energy materials
Battery and energy-storage materials
ICL has pursued materials and technologies related to batteries and energy storage, including phosphate-based materials associated with lithium iron phosphate battery chemistry. The business is intended to apply the company’s phosphate and specialty-materials expertise to electrification markets. It remains a strategic growth area alongside ICL’s established agriculture, food, and industrial-chemicals businesses.
Magnesium oxide
ICL states it is a leading manufacturer of magnesium oxide, which is a preferred ingredient in many animal and pet feed mixtures and mineral supplements because of its extremely low iron content.
Potassium chloride
ICL states it is a leading manufacturer of potassium chloride, which is a preferred ingredient in many animal and pet feed mixtures and mineral supplements because of its extremely low iron content.
Polysulphate
ICL states it is the exclusive polysulphate provider.

Controversies

2012
Dead Sea environmental and concession controversies
ICL’s Dead Sea operations have been subject to recurring public debate and regulatory scrutiny concerning mineral extraction, evaporation ponds, water and brine management, environmental effects, royalties, taxation, infrastructure, and the future of the company’s concession. These issues are longstanding governance and environmental controversies rather than a single isolated incident.
Source

2024
CEO successionOther
Background
Raviv Zoller had led ICL since 2018, and the company announced a planned change in chief executive leadership.
Action taken
ICL designated Elad Aharonson as successor, with the transition scheduled for 2025.
Aftermath
Aharonson became president and chief executive officer in 2025.
Source
2020
Increase focus on energy-storage materialsStrategy
Background
Demand for batteries and energy-storage systems created a potential growth market for companies with phosphate, specialty-minerals, and advanced-materials capabilities.
Action taken
ICL developed and promoted battery-related materials and technologies, including phosphate-based opportunities connected with lithium iron phosphate chemistry.
Aftermath
Energy storage became one of ICL’s strategic growth themes alongside agriculture, food ingredients, and industrial products.
Source
2014
Adopt a broader ICL Group identityStrategy
Background
The company operated internationally across fertilizers, minerals, food ingredients, and specialty chemicals, while the Israel Chemicals name emphasized its historical national and commodity-minerals identity.
Action taken
ICL increasingly used the ICL Group identity to present itself as a global specialty-minerals and specialty-chemicals company.
Aftermath
The ICL name became the principal public-facing identity, while the company retained its Israeli mineral-resource base and public-market listings.
Source

Recent events

Unconfirmed
ICL signs Ukrainian Polysulphate distribution agreement[9]ICL签署乌克兰Polysulphate分销协议prnewswire.com
Reported: 2020-07-09
ICL signed a five-year agreement with Ukrainian fertilizer distributor Transkhimtrade for distribution of an aggregate of 350,000 tonnes of Polysulphate fertilizers in Ukraine.
2020-02-19
ICL appoints Yoram Sadan to lead Digital Services Business[10]ICL任命Yoram Sadan负责数字服务业务prnewswire.com
Reported: 2020-02-19
ICL announced that Yoram Sadan would become Head of its Digital Services Business, effective March 2020.
2020-02-19
ICL acquires Growers Holdings[10]ICL任命Yoram Sadan负责数字服务业务prnewswire.com
Reported: 2020-02-19
ICL announced that it had acquired Growers Holdings, a US-based precision agriculture company, expanding its digital services offering.
2020-01-16
Italmatch Chemicals acquires RecoPhos Project Technology from ICL[11]Italmatch Chemicals 收购 ICL 的 RecoPhos 项目技术prnewswire.com
Reported: 2020-01-16
Italmatch Chemicals announced that it acquired the RecoPhos Project Technology from Israel Chemicals (ICL), including the related licenses, intellectual property, know-how and assets.

Sources11 sources

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