Facility

CF Industries – Billingham, County Durham (UK)

CF Industries ammonia production facility at Billingham, Teesside, County Durham. One of two UK CF Industries ammonia plants (the other was at Ince, Cheshire). **CRITICAL INCIDENT September 2021**: CF Industries shut this facility (and the Ince plant) due to high European natural gas prices, eliminating the primary source of UK food-grade CO2 (CO2 is a byproduct of ammonia synthesis). Within days, UK slaughterhouses, packaged food plants, breweries, and carbonated drink makers reported imminent CO2 shortfalls — dry ice production for food preservation was threatened. The UK government negotiated an emergency restart with CF Industries and provided a £30M subsidy — the first government payment to a private chemical company for food security reasons in modern memory. CF Industries has since permanently closed UK ammonia operations (restructured to import-only), removing this CO2 source from the UK supply chain.