CF Industries Warns of Fertilizer Shipping Issues

CF Industries is warning customers that fertilizer shipments might be delayed or may not reach farmers after Union Pacific (UP) railroad mandated certain shippers to reduce the volume of private cars on its railroad.

Leaders of trade organizations representing hundreds of Michigan businesses called on Congress to intervene in the rail labor dispute that threatens to shut down America’s freight rail network in early December. 
Leaders of trade organizations representing hundreds of Michigan businesses called on Congress to intervene in the rail labor dispute that threatens to shut down America’s freight rail network in early December.
(Farm Journal)

CF Industries is warning customers that fertilizer shipments might be delayed or may not reach farmers after Union Pacific (UP) railroad mandated certain shippers to reduce the volume of private cars on its railroad. CF ships fertilizer from its Donaldsonville Complex in Louisiana and its Port Neal Complex in Iowa via UP railroads. The railroad asked CF Industries to reduce its shipments by 20%. The company said it might not have available shipping capacity to take new rail orders involving UP rail lines to meet late-season demand for fertilizer. “The timing of this action by Union Pacific could not come at a worse time for farmers,” CF’s Chief Executive Officer Tony Will said on Thursday. CF Industries had previously announced it planned to increase fertilizer shipments from the world’s largest nitrogen plant to both U.S. coasts to help offset some of the decline in fertilizer supply due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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