France: Yara closes Pardies plant

Yara has announced a plan to cease operations at its Pardies site in France. "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. I would like to assure our employees that the cessation process will be handled in a respectful and professional way, and in accordance with the relevant union agreements," said Svein Tore Holsether, President and Chief Executive Officer of Yara.

"This process is part of our on-going efforts to strengthen Yara's long-term competitiveness, including in France which remains a key market for Yara, with more than 2.5 million tonnes of product delivered and EUR 73 million invested in 2016," said Holsether.

The Pardies operations suffer from limited scale, raw material integration and export competitiveness. The closure in 2010 of a nearby industrial operation deprived the Yara Pardies plant of many synergies that existed between the two plants, forcing Yara to close the ammonia production unit at the site. Yara has subsequently impaired the Pardies assets in both 2015 and 2016.

The Yara Pardies plant has 85 employees and an annual production capacity of approximately 100,000 tonnes of technical ammonium nitrate.