UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

---

FORM 20-F

(Mark One)

 

OR

 

 

OR

 

 

OR

 

 

 

Commission File Number: 001-13742

 

ISRAEL CHEMICALS LTD.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

 

N/A

(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)

 

Israel

(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

 

Millennium Tower, 23 Aranha Street, P.O. Box 20245 Tel Aviv, 61202 Israel

(Address of principal executive offices)

Lilach Geva Harel, Adv.
EVP, Global General Counsel
Millennium Tower, 23 Aranha St.
Tel-Aviv 6120201 Israel
Tel: +972 (3) 6844440

(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

 

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

 

None

 

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act:

 

None

 

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report.

 

The number of outstanding shares as of December 31, 2019 was:

 

    

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

 

Yes ☒                      No ☐

 

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

 

Yes ☐                      No ☒

 

Note – Checking the box above will not relieve any registrant required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

 

Yes ☒                      No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

 

Yes ☒                      No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of “accelerated filer and large accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

Large Accelerated Filer     ☒              Accelerated Filer  ☐                      Non-accelerated Filer  ☐

 

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

 

☐           U.S. GAAP

 

☒           International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board

 

☐           Other

 

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the Registrant has elected to follow.

Item 17 ☐                      Item 18 ☐

 

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes ☐                      No ☒

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

This Annual Report contains statements that constitute “forward‑looking statements,” many of which can be identified by the use of forward‑looking words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “expect,” “should,” “plan,” “intend,” “estimate” and “potential,” among others.

 

Forward‑looking statements appear in a number of places in this Annual Report and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our intent, belief or current expectations. Forward‑looking statements are based on our management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and the actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward‑looking statements due to various factors, including, but not limited to, those identified in “Item 3 - Key Information— D. Risk Factors” in this Annual Report. These risks and uncertainties include factors relating to:

 

Loss or impairment of business licenses or mineral extractions permits or concessions; volatility of supply and demand and the impact of competition; the difference between actual reserves and our reserve estimates; natural disasters; failure to raise the water level in evaporation Pond 5 in the Dead Sea; construction of a new pumping station; disruptions at our seaport shipping facilities or regulatory restrictions affecting our ability to export our products overseas; general market, political or economic conditions in the countries in which we operate; price increases or shortages with respect to our principal raw materials; delays in the completion of major projects by third party contractors and/or termination of engagements with contractors  and/or governmental obligations; the inflow of significant amounts of water into the Dead Sea could adversely affect production at our plants; labor disputes, slowdowns and strikes involving our employees; pension and health insurance liabilities; risks related to health epidemics, such as the ongoing global epidemic as a result of the recent outbreak of the new coronavirus identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, as any outbreak of a contagious disease, or other adverse public health developments, could have a material adverse effect on our business operations by disrupting our ability to purchase raw materials, impacting the demand for some of our products, disrupting our ability to sell and/or distribute products, and/or temporarily closing our facilities or the facilities of our suppliers or customers and their contract manufacturers, or restricting our ability to travel to support our sites or our customers around the world, any of which would likely impact our sales and operating results; changes to governmental incentive programs or tax benefits, creation of new fiscal or tax related legislation; changes in our evaluations and estimates, which serve as a basis for the recognition and manner of measurement of assets and liabilities; higher tax liabilities; failure to integrate or realize expected benefits from mergers and acquisitions, organizational restructuring and joint ventures; currency rate fluctuations; rising interest rates; government examinations or investigations; disruption of our, or our service providers', information technology systems or breaches of our, or our service providers', data security; failure to retain and/or recruit key personnel; inability to realize expected benefits from our cost reduction program according to the expected timetable; inability to access capital markets on favorable terms; cyclicality of our businesses; changes in demand for our fertilizer products due to a decline in agricultural product prices, lack of available credit, weather conditions, government policies or other factors beyond our control; sales of our magnesium products being affected by various factors that are not within our control; our ability to secure approvals and permits from the authorities in Israel to continue our phosphate mining operations in Rotem; volatility or crises in the financial markets; uncertainties surrounding the proposed withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union; hazards inherent to mining and chemical manufacturing; the failure to ensure the safety of our workers and processes; cost of compliance with environmental legislative and licensing restrictions; laws, regulations and physical impacts of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions; litigation, arbitration and regulatory proceedings; exposure to third party and product liability claims; product recalls or other liability claims as a result of food safety and food-borne illness concerns; insufficiency of insurance coverage; closing of transactions, mergers and acquisitions; war or acts of terror and/or political, economic and military instability in Israel and its region; filing of class actions and derivative actions against the Company, its executives and Board members; and other risk factors discussed under ”Item 3 - Key Information— D. Risk Factors".

Forward‑looking statements speak only as at the date they are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update them in light of new information or future developments or to release publicly any revisions to these statements in order to reflect later events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

 

INTRODUCTION

 

This Annual Report contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ significantly from future results as a result of factors such as those set forth in “Item 3 - Key Information— D. Risk Factors” and ”Item 5 - Operating and Financial Review and Prospects.”

 

The financial information included in this Annual Report has been prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”), as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”). None of the financial information in this Annual Report has been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

 

This Annual Report contains translations of certain NIS amounts into U.S. dollars at specified rates solely for your convenience. Unless otherwise indicated, we have translated NIS amounts as at December 31, 2019, into U.S. dollars at an exchange rate of NIS 3.456 to $1.00, and euro amounts into U.S. dollars at an exchange rate of €0.891 to $1.00, the daily representative exchange rate reported by the Bank of Israel for December 31, 2019.

 

Market data and certain industry data used in this Annual Report were obtained from internal reports and studies, where appropriate, as well as estimates, market research, publicly available information and industry publications, including publications, reports or releases of the International Monetary Fund (“IMF”), the U.S. Census Bureau, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (“FAO”), the International Fertilizers Association (“IFA”), the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”), the United States Geological Survey, the CRU Group ("CRU"), Fertecon, the Fertilizer Association of India (“FAI”) and the Brazilian National Fertilizer Association (“ANDA”). Industry publications generally state that the information they include has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but that the accuracy and completeness of such information is not guaranteed. Similarly, internal reports and studies, estimates and market research, which we believe to be reliable and accurately extracted by us for use in this Annual Report, have not been independently verified. However, we believe such data is accurate. There is only a limited amount of independent data available about certain aspects of our industry, market and competitive position. As a result, certain data and information about our market rankings in certain product areas are based on our good faith estimates, which are derived from our review of internal data and information, information that we obtain from our customers, and other third-party sources. We believe these internal surveys and management estimates are reliable; however, no independent sources have verified such surveys and estimates.

 

In presenting and discussing our financial position, operating results and net income results, the management uses certain non-IFRS financial measures. These non-IFRS financial measures should not be viewed in isolation or as alternatives to the equivalent IFRS measures and should be used in conjunction with the most directly comparable IFRS measures. A discussion of non-IFRS measures included in this Annual Report and a reconciliation of such measures to the most directly comparable IFRS measures are contained in this Annual Report under “Item 5 – Operating and Financial Review and Prospects— A. Operating Results”.

 

In this Annual Report, unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, all references to “ICL,” the “Group,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” “ours,” “us” or similar terms refer to Israel Chemicals Ltd., together with its consolidated subsidiaries. When we refer to our “parent company” or to “Israel Corporation,” we refer to our controlling shareholder, Israel Corporation Ltd. Unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, references in this Annual Report to “NIS” are to the legal currency of Israel, “U.S. dollars”, “$” or “dollars” are to United States dollars, “euro” or “€” are to the Euro, the legal currency of certain countries of the European Union, and “British pound” or “£” are to the legal currency of the United Kingdom. See “Item 4 - Information on the Company— A. History and Development of the Company”. We own or have rights to trademarks or trade names that we use in conjunction with the operation of our business. Solely for convenience, trademarks and trade names referred to in this Annual Report may appear without the ® or ™ symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent of the law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensor to these trademarks and trade names. In this Annual Report, we also refer to product names, trademarks, and trade names that are the property of other companies. Each of the trademarks and trade names of other companies appearing in this Annual Report belongs to its owners. Our use or display of other companies’ product names, trademarks, or trade names is not intended to and does not imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship by us of, the product, trademark, or trade name owner, unless we otherwise indicate.