CF Industries nearly doubles quarterly profit as nitrogen prices rise

CF Industries reported second-quarter net earnings of $727 million, up 88% from $386 million a year earlier, as geopolitical supply disruptions lifted nitrogen fertilizer prices. Revenue rose 18% to $2.22 billion, while adjusted EBITDA increased to $1.19 billion from $761 million. First-half net earnings climbed to $1.34 billion from $698 million, although the result included an approximately $170 million litigation settlement gain.

Average selling prices increased across all product segments as the conflict with Iran tightened an already constrained global nitrogen market during the Northern Hemisphere application season. The gains offset a 15% decline in second-quarter sales volumes, largely reflecting lower shipments of UAN, ammonium nitrate and ammonia. Granular urea was the strongest segment, with quarterly revenue rising to $759 million from $547 million and its average selling price increasing to $593 per ton from $460 per ton.

CF Industries expects global nitrogen supplies to remain constrained through the end of 2026 and into 2027, citing reduced Middle Eastern exports, continued risks to Russian production and difficult economics for European producers. The company estimates the Iran conflict has removed about 4 million to 4.5 million metric tons of traded urea and roughly 1 million metric tons of ammonia from the market. It expects to produce approximately 9.5 million tons of ammonia in 2026, including the impact of the prolonged outage at its Yazoo City complex in Mississippi, which is not expected to resume production until the first half of 2027. Meanwhile, permitted construction at the Blue Point low-carbon ammonia complex in Louisiana is scheduled to begin in August.