AlwaysFree: More European Ammonia Producers Idle Plants Amid Surging Gas Prices

OCI NV and Fertiberia have become the latest European ammonia producers to idle plants due to surging natural gas prices. OCI NV has halted operations at one of its two 500,000 tons/year plants at Geleen, Netherlands. Meanwhile, Fertiberia would stop production at its 373,000 tons/year plant at Huelva, Spain, for a month starting on October 1. Fertiberia’s 200,000 tons/year ammonia plant in Puertollano, Spain, is also idle under maintenance and will restart operations in mid-October. BASF, Borealis, Yara International, and CF Industries have cut their ammonia output in Europe due to high gas prices. The production outages have boosted ammonia prices in Europe by over $100 per ton in the past two weeks.