Risk of fertiliser shortages as CF workers plan strike action

Planned strike action by factory workers at fertiliser manufacturer CF Fertilisers UK could lead to a temporary shortage of ammonium nitrate products in the UK.

Workers employed by Hargreaves Industrial Services based at CF Fertilisers’ Billingham site in County Durham have announced plans to strike over a pay dispute.

The strikes are planned to take place between 12 and 20 September, and again from 28 September to 6 October, and are expected to cause “severe disruption” to the site’s operations and fertiliser supplies.

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Sharon Graham, general secretary of workers union Unite, said: “Both Hargreaves and CF Fertiliser can fully afford to ensure these workers receive a fair pay offer. Our members at Billingham will receive Unite’s total backing during these strikes.”

Unite regional officer Neil Howells added that there was still time for industrial action to be avoided, but it would require a pay offer being put forward that its members can accept.

In July last year CF Fertilisers, a subsidiary of CF Industries, announced plans to permanently close its ammonia plant at Billingham.

However, the company has continued to produce ammonium nitrate fertiliser and nitric acid on site using imported ammonia.

Farmers Weekly contacted CF Fertilisers UK and CF industries to comment, however, has not yet received a response.

John Fuller, chairman of fertiliser manufacturer and importer Brineflow said: “It’s an irrelevance and is a clear sign of how market power has moved away from CF, a formerly dominant player.

“Changes in the UK energy mix, including a reliance on LNG [liquefied natural gas] and the Ukraine conflict, have only accelerated the long-term shift to imported ammonium nitrate, urea and especially liquid fertilisers as the bedrock of the UK food chain.”