SASKATOON – The Canadian petro-chemical company, Nutrien, announced last week ” the indefinite closure” of one of its four ammonia plants in Trinidad and Tobago, effective October 30.

The  shutdown will put an estimated 50 people out of work.

“This suspension of operations is in response to market conditions and lower global prices for ammonia,” the company said in a statement on its website, adding that “two of our amonia plants and the associated urea facility will continue to operate at maximum capacity.

“Our other plant which was taken offline in May 2020 due to market conditions is expected to come back online as market conditions improve. The urea plant at the site will continue operating at normal rate.”

Nutrien said that market conditions have pressed the need for the closure of the plant, which will result in a 15 per cent reduction in the workforce effective October 30.

“These changes will enable the facility to operate more efficiently, competitively and sustainably into the future. Ensuring our customers are serviced is always a top priority. We are optimising to ensure we support our customers and there are no changes to existing supplier contractual agreements,” the  company added.