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Written Question
Fertilisers
Wednesday 18th May 2022

Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of CF Fertiliser's decision to keep certain UK plants closed on the (a) carbon dioxide and (b) nitrogen industries.

Answered by Jo Churchill

CF Fertilisers produces 40% of the ammonium nitrate fertiliser used in the United Kingdom. This is 10-15% of total fertiliser usage when including other mineral fertilisers. Government officials from Defra and other government departments routinely meet with commercial food supply chain representatives, including CF Fertilisers.

The production of ammonium nitrate fertiliser also creates three critical by-products: ammonia, nitric acid and carbon dioxide (CO2).

In September 2021, CF Fertilisers plants temporarily shut down. The Government provided limited financial support for CF Fertilisers' operating costs for three weeks. Industry then came to a further agreement in October without taxpayer support to ensure CF Fertilisers could continue to operate for three months. This market-led agreement was renewed in January 2022 and continues at the current time. The deal meant that key sectors, including food processing and nuclear power, were ensured supplies of CO2. Details of this support will be published in the usual way in the 2021-22 BEIS Annual Report and Accounts.

In the longer term, the Government would like to see the market take measures to improve resilience, and we are engaging on ways this could happen.

The decision about whether to reopen Ince is a commercial one for CF Fertilisers. We are not aware of any current issues with domestic CO2 or nitrogen supplies.

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