In what has become a common theme for the spring 2012 planting season, plant outages and heavy demand continued to drain nitrogen inventories at many regional terminals in mid-April.
CF Industries Holdings Inc. announced on April 16 that its Woodward, Okla., nitrogen complex was temporarily out of service after losing its power supply due to tornadoes that passed through the area early on April 15. No direct damage was reported at the complex.
“Our immediate concern is the safety and welfare of our employees and neighbors who were affected by the tornadoes and the devastation they caused,” said Tony Will, CF senior vice president of manufacturing and distribution. “Fortunately none of our employees were injured, although several did experience damage to their homes. Our thoughts are with those in the community who were impacted by the storms.”
A CF spokesperson told Green Markets on April 19 that power had been restored to the Woodward facility, and the company was in the process of bringing the plant back into production. Earlier in the week, CF noted that it appreciated the efforts of Oklahoma Gas & Electric crews to restore power as soon as possible.
The company also said it intended to make a contribution to the American Red Cross to help fund recovery efforts in the Woodward community, and that individuals and employees wishing to do the same could visit www.redcross.org.
CF also alerted customers on April 16 that UAN was on allocation at its Courtright, Ont., facility due to “an interruption in supply availability.” CF said the interruption would be in effect until further notice, and asked customers to avoid scheduling any loading at Courtright during the allocation.
Also on April 16, CF notified customers that it would start allocating urea at its Medicine Hat, Alberta, plant, effective immediately, due to an interruption in supply availability. The notice asked customers to avoid scheduling any loading at the facility until the allocation notification had been sent out.
The nitrogen fertilizer complex at Medicine Hat is Canada’s largest, with annual production capacity of 800,000 mt of urea and approximately 1.1 million mt of ammonia, some of which is upgraded into urea. CF has a 66 percent interest in Canadian Fertilizer Ltd., which owns the Medicine Hat complex. Combined annual fertilizer capacity from the facility’s two ammonia plants and one urea plant is approximately 1.5 million tons, which is shipped by rail and truck to the northern U.S. Cornbelt and to Western Canada. Viterra Inc. owns the minority stake in the plant.
Additional nitrogen supply curtailments were announced by CF on April 17. CF notified customers on Tuesday that it was unable to load urea at its Inola, Okla., warehouse due to an interruption in supply availability. CF said the interruption was effective immediately and would last until further notice.
CF also alerted customers on April 17 that the company’s Verdigris, Okla., plant would not be loading anhydrous ammonia trucks until further notice, again citing an "interruption in supply." CF said the Verdigris ammonia interruption would commence at 6 p.m. on April 17.
CF’s Verdigris plant has two ammonia plants with a total combined production of more than 3,200 tons per day, with some 2,400 tons of that upgraded to UAN under optimal production rates. The Verdigris plant is the largest UAN production facility in North America, with the capacity to produce more than 5,600 tons per day of UAN-32.
Industry sources also confirmed late last week that water levels on the lower Mississippi River had caused the primary towboat company operating on the Arkansas River to temporarily suspend operations.
JanTran Inc., a towing business owned by Bruce Oakley Inc., notified customers on April 18 that due to conditions at t