CF Fertilisers UK announces proposal to permanently close ammonia plant at Billingham Complex

CF Fertilisers UK Limited, a subsidiary of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CF), announced a proposal to permanently close the ammonia plant at its Billingham Complex in order to secure the long-term sustainability of its business in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and more efficiently serve its customers in the country. The Company intends to continue to produce ammonium nitrate (AN) fertiliser and nitric acid at the Billingham site using imported ammonia, as it has for the last 10 months following its decision to temporarily idle the plant in August 2022.

CF Fertilisers UK has made this proposal due to its forecast that producing ammonia at Billingham will not be cost-competitive for the long-term compared to importing ammonia due primarily to projected high natural gas prices in the United Kingdom relative to other regions and the impact of carbon costs. Additionally, shutdowns in recent years of industrial customers’ U.K. operations that had consumed significant ammonia volumes for their businesses have created a supply-demand imbalance for ammonia production at the Billingham Complex. The Company believes that ample global availability of ammonia for import, including from CF Industries’ North American production network, will enable more cost-competitive and efficient production and sales of ammonium nitrate fertiliser and nitric acid for its U.K. agriculture and chemicals customers moving forward.

The Company’s proposal to permanently close the ammonia plant at its Billingham Complex could result in up to 38 redundancies at the site, in relation to which it will be entering into the required collective redundancy consultation process with its recognised union, Unite, and elected employee representatives. The Company anticipates that some of the proposed redundancies might be avoided by redeployment opportunities.