CF Industries says production increase won’t require upgrades

By Collin Gallant on August 28, 2018.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com @CollinGallant

Officials with CF Industries are clarifying a plan to increase production at the Medicine Hat fertilizer plant site, but that doesn’t require capital investment or improvements at the facility.

The News cited a Reuters report last week that stated the company was taking advantage of much lower natural gas prices at its Alberta facility amounting to 150,000 tons, equal to about a 10 per cent increase in annual production.

CF industries is scheduled to maximize existing production capacity and use that to boost export volumes through the fall after current general maintenance at the plant is completed.

That will be accomplished by running the existing plant at a higher rate, officials clarified Monday, and company policy is to not publicly disclose capital projects and maintenance.

The Illinois-based company is planning minor improvements to its logistics and storage network across North America to handle the added volume.

The company’s stock is sitting near an all-time high following the release of its second quarter financial update in early August. It states profits were up 33 per cent over last year, thanks to record shipments and lower costs for natural gas, which is converted into ammonia and nitrogen fertilizer, compared to elsewhere in the world.

A discussion with investment firms that accompanied the second-quarter results show managers feel natural gas costs in Europe and coal costs in China puts the company in privileged position exporting from North America.

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