Chicago | Reuters — CF Industries on Wednesday reported quarterly earnings climbed 485 per cent as the fertilizer maker ramped up U.S. shipments after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine catapulted prices for crop nutrients.
Top fertilizer producers including CF, Nutrien and Mosaic Co. have benefited as sanctions on exporters Russia and ally Belarus limited global supplies that were already tight.
Illinois-based CF, which operates the world’s largest nitrogen complex in Louisiana, said net earnings reached $883 million in the three months ended on March 31, compared with $151 million a year earlier (all figures US$). Net sales were $2.9 billion, up from $1 billion a year ago.
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Nitrogen fertilizer is one of the most commonly used fertilizers to boost production of corn, canola and other crops.
Global inventories are “extremely tight” while demand is strong from farmers seeking to cash in on grain prices that have jumped as the Ukraine war is disrupting crop shipments from the Black Sea, CF said.
It will take at least two to three years to replenish global grains stocks after the invasion, CEO Tony Will said. Moscow calls its action in Ukraine a “special operation.”
The company said it shipped the highest quarterly volume of nitrogen by rail in North America in 10 years to meet demand and is chartering three times its typical volume of U.S.-flagged vessels to move liquid nitrogen to the U.S. coasts.
The average price for natural gas, used to make nitrogen fertilizer, was $6.48 per MMBtu in the quarter, compared with $3.22 in 2021, CF said.
— Reporting for Reuters by Tom Polansek in Chicago.
