LSB Industries Inc. has given an update on the Pryor, Okla., nitrogen plant, which was shut down March 15, 2012 for unplanned maintenance. LSB says the ammonia plant resumed production March 22 and is currently producing at the rate of 625 tons per day, for sale directly into the fertilizer market. However, the maintenance undertaken at the urea plant, which produces UAN is not complete. As a result, the Pryor did not produce UAN during the month of March. LSB expects to resume production of UAN later this month, and will announce when UAN production has resumed.
The company estimates that the maintenance downtime will result in approximately $4 million less operating income than otherwise would have been expected in March and approximately $1.0 million less in April 2012.