The U.S. firm CF Industries Holdings, Inc. has announced the shutdown of two fertilizer production sites in Billingham and Ince, Great Britain, due to the price increases of natural gas, the feedstock. The firm’s stock dropped some 10% on Wall Street, compared to June.
Besides the reduction in fertilizer for farming, the lack of CO2, which is a byproduct of manufacturing fertilizer, will hurt poultry slaughtering, which uses the gas to incapacitate the birds before processing. The British Poultry Council CEO Richard Griffiths said this week that there could be a massive impact, on top of other problems which have already driven down weekly chicken output by 5 to 10%. Christmas turkey availability could be down 20%. Prices for fuel have doubled this year.
