AN shutdowns bring fears for fertiliser supply and prices
© Nitram High gas prices have forced the closure of CF Industries’ two UK ammonium nitrate (AN) manufacturing plants.
The company says it does not have an estimate for when production will resume at the facilities at Ince in Cheshire and Billingham on Teesside.
Natural gas prices have reached record highs in Europe this week and the CF shutdowns were followed by a similar announcement by Yara today (17 September).
ADM Agriculture’s head of fertiliser, Calum Findlay, said that many European manufacturers were also reluctant to offer any new terms, making imported product very tight.
See also: Latest hike in nitrogen price takes it to more than 1/kg
At more than £360/t for September deliveries, AN had already reached the dizzy price of £1/kg in this form, up by about 50% on last year’s market level. Imported AN prices were not far behind, and urea is firming.
Mr Findlay said that ADM had discharged a granular urea vessel in Immingham this week with a further cargo arriving in October.
High energy prices are hitting most links in the food chain, with the fertiliser shutdowns adding to this and already bringing warnings of implications for food supply.
Carbon dioxide is a by-product of the AN manufacturing process and the AN plant shutdowns bring an added concern for meat processors which use it in poultry stunning and extensively in packaging and refrigeration.
A carbon dioxide shortage was experienced last year when the first lockdown hit demand for ethanol fuel, which also produces the gas.