Europe’s energy crisis is spreading to the fertilizer and meat industries, risking tighter food supplies and even higher prices.
Major fertilizer producers Yara International ASA and CF Industries Holdings Inc. said soaring energy costs are forcing them to halt some output of nutrients crucial for growing crops. The shutdowns also risk hitting other parts of the food supply chain by crimping supplies of carbon dioxide, which is used in stunning animals for slaughter and food packaging that boosts shelf life.
It’s the latest threat to abattoirs, where labor shortages have caused a backlog of pigs on farms, and comes as global food prices are near a decade-high. The British Meat Processors Association warned that CO2 supplies could run out within two weeks, forcing slaughterhouses to close just as pig producers are already facing the imminent prospect of culling animals.
Kraftproblemene man har nå får mange bieffekter som ikke jeg har oversikt over. Syntes jeg ser en rekke alarmerende artikler her og der, som tyder på at olje og gass både er svært dyrt, og vil bli enda dyrere, framover.
On Friday, Norwegian fertilizer maker Yara on Friday said that it will by next week have curtailed about 40% of its European ammonia output capacity as record-high gas prices are hurting its production.
Yara trades about one-third of the world’s ammonia, which is used in fertilizers, but also relied on in industries such as automotives, textiles, healthcare and cosmetics. The company, which said it will curb output at a number of plants, produces ammonia in Europe at sites in the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Italy, France, U.K. and Belgium.
Fertilizer prices jumped in the past year as a crop rally helped farmers boost purchases. They’ve been further supported after Hurricane Ida struck the heart of the U.S. fertilizer industry and Storm Nicholas threatened more damage in the Gulf of Mexico. Higher nutrient costs risk exacerbating global food inflation at a time when hunger is on the rise, particularly in poorer nations.
