Bunge abruptly closes Campana ammonia plant in Argentina, cutting 137 jobs

Bunge has closed its Campana plant in Buenos Aires province, Argentina, ending production of ammonia and liquid thiosulfate fertilizers at a site that has operated for more than 50 years, Forbes Argentina reported on October 27.

The closure affects 137 direct workers, according to the Zárate-Campana chemical and petrochemical workers’ union, plus about 113 contractors who provided maintenance and other services. Staff were told on Monday, October 26, and the night shift was not allowed to enter.

The plant made ammonium thiosulfate, sold under the SolMix brand, and potassium thiosulfate. It also produced ammonia as feedstock for those products and sold the surplus to third parties, including shipments to Uruguay. Urea production at the site ended nearly a decade ago. The Argentine cooperative group ACA participated in about 17.5% of the plant’s output.

Sources close to Bunge cited the age of the facility, limits in its technology and infrastructure, and changes in market conditions and input supply. Union leaders blamed import competition, including Chinese product, and said sulfur, a key raw material, has become hard to source and costly because of the war in the Middle East. Bunge had not issued an official statement.

The plant had been idle for about six weeks for scheduled maintenance. The union has filed a complaint with the provincial labor ministry and is seeking the plant’s reopening.

The closure adds to Bunge’s shifting fertilizer exposure in South America, where it warned earlier this year that fertilizer shortages could threaten Brazil’s crop. Argentine growers will now rely more on imported liquid sulfur fertilizers.

Source: Forbes Argentina