Fertilizer manufacturer

Gas Crisis: Production in Linz Reduced to a Minimum

Fertilizer manufacturer LAT Nitrogen employs approximately 800 people at the Linz Chemical Park.(Bild: LAT Nitrogen Linz)

Due to sharply rising gas costs and a slump in demand for fertilizers, the Linz-based producer LAT Nitrogen has scaled back its operations to the technical minimum. There is no end in sight to the cutbacks.

LAT Nitrogen is the largest company in the Linz Chemical Park and produces approximately 1.5 million metric tons of fertilizer and 500,000 metric tons of technical nitrogen products annually in Upper Austria’s capital. Currently, however, production has been severely curtailed: “The plants are currently operating at the technical minimum—that is, at the lowest capacity that allows for safe operation. A complete shutdown is not planned due to the continuous production process,” Leonhard Werner, site manager at LAT Nitrogen Linz, told the “Krone.”

The reason for the drastic cutback is the “sharp rise in gas costs and a significant decline in demand for fertilizer.” However, the measure will have no impact on the approximately 800 employees in Linz.

“No Timeline Can Be Predicted”
Production has already been running at minimal capacity “since the summer months,” according to the company. It is not yet clear how long the cutback will last: “As soon as demand picks up, we’ll ramp up production again. A specific timeframe cannot be predicted at this time,” says site manager Werner.

LAT Nitrogen’s parent company, AGF Nitrogen from the Czech Republic, had already announced on Wednesday that it had halted parts of its production in Europe. The Czech company also cited high gas prices and weak demand as the reasons.

LAT Nitrogen emerged from the former fertilizer division of Borealis at the Linz Chemical Park. The company is Austria’s largest single consumer of natural gas. Gas is the raw material for ammonia, which in turn is needed for fertilizers.