(Reuters) - Yara International, one of the world's largest fertilizer producers, reported third-quarter core earnings above market expectations on Friday, citing record production and its focus on core operations to boost profitability.

Third-quarter earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation (EBITDA), excluding items affecting comparability, rose more than 47% from a year earlier to $585 million. Analysts on average had forecast $482 million, a company-provided poll showed.

"Yara is delivering all-time high production performance and strong premiums this quarter, a testament to the robustness of our operations and the value of our core business," CEO Svein Tore Holsether said in the statement.