SIOUX CITY, Iowa, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ --
Terra Industries Inc. (NYSE: TRA) reported today that it would shut down
its Blytheville, Ark. and Beaumont, Texas facilities for December. These two
facilities represent 23%, 1%, 67% and 88% of Terra's North American ammonia,
UAN, urea and methanol manufacturing capacity, respectively. The facilities
will restart when natural gas, nitrogen products and/or methanol prices reach
levels allowing positive cash flows from the facilities.
Michael L. Bennett, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
of Terra, commented, "December natural gas prices above $6 per MMBtu would
result in production costs at these facilities which exceed selling prices.
Derivative financial instruments executed in prior months to fix a portion of
Terra's North American December natural gas requirements produced gains
exceeding the ongoing costs of the two facilities during December. We expect
that market conditions will allow us to restart the facilities before layoffs
and other cost cutting measures are required."
Information contained in this release, other than historical information,
may be considered forward looking. Forward-looking information reflects
management's current views of future events and financial performance that
involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, the
following: changes in financial markets, general economic conditions within
the agricultural industry, competitive factors and price changes (principally,
selling prices of nitrogen and methanol products and natural gas costs),
changes in product mix, changes in the seasonality of demand patterns, changes
in weather conditions, changes in agricultural regulations and other risks
detailed in the "Factors That Affect Operating Results" section of Terra's
current annual report.
Terra Industries Inc., with 1999 revenues of $775 million from continuing
operations, is a leading international producer of nitrogen products and
methanol.
Note: Terra Industries' news announcements are also available on its web
site, http://www.terraindustries.com , and by fax at no charge by calling
800-758-5804, code 437906.
SOURCE Terra Industries Inc.
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.terraindustries.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/437906.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 437906
CONTACT:
Mark Rosenbury of Terra Industries Inc.,
712-279-8756
|
