Major fertilizer producer Nutrien lowered its 2024 nitrogen sales guidance following extended turnarounds and unplanned outages in the third quarter.
Nutrien reduced its expected sales of nitrogen products in 2024 by 200,000 metric tonnes (t) to 10.6mn t, the company said in its third quarter earnings report.
Nutrien's Port Saskatchewan facility in Alberta suffered from a power outage during the period causing unexpected downtime, Nutrien said. The producer's Augusta, Georgia, and Geismar, Louisiana, plants experienced brief outages following hurricanes in the US Gulf coast in September.
Nutrien's Trinidad nitrogen facility wrapped up a turnaround in the third quarter, Nutrien said. And the producer's Lima, Ohio, plant also underwent a turnaround from August into September, according to sources.
Third quarter nitrogen sales increased by 2.8pc from a year ago to 2.45mn t despite outages at its plants.
But Nutrien estimated US nitrogen inventories to be "well-below average levels" at the end of the third quarter, which the company expects to support demand in the coming months.
Nitrogen markets have been supported by tightness in global supplies, with the company pointing towards supply disruptions, delays of new capacity, and rising European natural gas prices. China's restrictions on urea exports and production challenges elsewhere have firmed nitrogen markets as well, Nutrien said.
On the demand side, urea consumption in China has grown 14pc annually, bringing consumption there to 60mn t as the government focuses on domestic agricultural production, Nutrien said.
In the US, crop margins have declined compared to recent years on lower crop prices and higher costs, but below-normal grain stocks globally should support US agricultural markets, Nutrien said. The company said it expects strong fall nitrogen demand following significant nutrient depletion and an early harvest.
