CO2 closure crisis firm pays £185m to investors
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Carbon closure crisis firm pays £185m to investors: CF Industries reports ‘excellent results’ as it hands out cash in US
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The US company that closed two factories, fueling fears Britain could run out of essential carbon dioxide (CO2) used in food production, has handed its shareholders £185 million.
CF Industries hailed ‘excellent results’ in handing out the money to its investors in the US, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
CO2 is used for everything from humanely slaughtering chickens and pigs to fizzing soft drinks and packaged salads to keep them fresh.
Outstanding results: Labor MP Justin Madders said CF’s huge dividends ‘will be an affront to the injury’
The group’s shocking closures in Ince, Cheshire and Billingham, Teesside, last summer cut off 40 per cent of the UK’s carbon dioxide supply, leading to shortages of some food and drink products.
It had blamed closures on rising energy costs. But it told shareholders earlier this month it had benefited from global supply shortages, boosting demand for its products.
British ministers were forced to intervene last year with a state grant to CF Industries. The aid did not stop the company from permanently closing its Ince plant seven months later. That was followed by a controversial announcement in August that CF would also halt production at its Billingham plant.
Labor MP Justin Madders, whose constituency includes Ince, said CF’s massive dividends “will add to the affront” given rising food inflation.
CF Industries was contacted for comment.