The nitrogen fertilizer causing a stir over of explosion in North Carolina has been fading from the U.S. market exactly because of this kind of risk.
Ammonium nitrate was the first solid nitrogen fertilizer produced on a large scale, but “its popularity has declined in recent years,” crop nutrient company Mosaic Co. Today, the input is only about 3% of total U.S. nitrogen farm consumption, according to Bloomberg’s Green Markets.
Ammonium nitrate has been behind deadly explosions in recent years, including a Texas plant that had about 200 tons of the chemical explode in April 2013, killing 15 people and damaging more than 150 structures across a 35-block area. The blast, and the subsequent lawsuit filed against major nitrogen producer CF Industries Holdings Inc., caused unease in the industry, Green Markets analyst Alexis Maxwell said. Since then, consumption has shrunk about 25%, she said.
“The U.S. ammonium nitrate market consolidated after the West Texas explosion among an increasingly smaller number of agricultural retailers as buyers were unwilling to accept the increased risk and insurance cost,” Maxwell said by email.
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