Norwegian fertilizer producer Yara has announced plans to stop operations at its site in Pardies, southwestern France. The plant, which has 85 employees, currently produces approximately 100,000 t/y of technical ammonium nitrate.

“We regret to inform our employees and other stakeholders that we are considering closing the Yara Pardies plant and seeking buyers interested in taking over the plant,” said Svein Tore Holsether, Yara’s president and CEO. He added that the move is part of Yara’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its long-term competitiveness, including in France, which remains a key market for the company with more than 2.5 million t of product delivered and €73 million invested in 2016.

Yara said the Pardies operations suffer from limited scale, raw material integration and export competitiveness.  The Oslo-based group explained that the closure in 2010 of a nearby industrial operation deprived the Pardies facility of many synergies that existed between the two plants, forcing Yara to close the site’s ammonia production unit. Yara subsequently impaired the Pardies assets in both 2015 and 2016.