CF Industries Holdings 10-K 2022-12-31

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

Commission file number 001-32597

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (847) 405-2400

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to § 240.10D-1(b) ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates as of June 30, 2022 (the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter), computed by reference to the closing sale price of the registrant’s common stock, was $17,381,054,929.

195,768,339 shares of the registrant’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share, were outstanding as of January 31, 2023.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for its 2023 annual meeting of shareholders (Proxy Statement) are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The Proxy Statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, pursuant to Regulation 14A, not later than 120 days after the end of the 2022 fiscal year, or, if the registrant does not file the Proxy Statement within such 120-day period, the registrant will amend this Annual Report on Form 10-K to include the information required under Part III of Form 10-K not later than the end of such 120-day period.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

PART I

Our Company

All references to “CF Holdings,” “we,” “us,” “our” and “the Company,” refer to CF Industries Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries, except where the context makes clear that the reference is only to CF Industries Holdings, Inc. itself and not its subsidiaries. All references to “CF Industries” refer to CF Industries, Inc., a 100% owned subsidiary of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. References to tons refer to short tons and references to tonnes refer to metric tons. Notes referenced throughout this document refer to consolidated financial statement note disclosures that are found in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data—Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

Our mission is to provide clean energy to feed and fuel the world sustainably. With our employees focused on safe and reliable operations, environmental stewardship, and disciplined capital and corporate management, we are on a path to decarbonize our ammonia production network – the world’s largest – to enable green and blue hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement and other industrial activities. Our nitrogen manufacturing complexes in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, an extensive storage, transportation and distribution network in North America, and logistics capabilities enabling a global reach underpin our strategy to leverage our unique capabilities to accelerate the world’s transition to clean energy. Our principal customers are cooperatives, independent fertilizer distributors, traders, wholesalers and industrial users. Our core product is anhydrous ammonia (ammonia), which contains 82% nitrogen and 18% hydrogen. Our nitrogen products that are upgraded from ammonia are granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate solution (UAN) and ammonium nitrate (AN). Our other nitrogen products include diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), urea liquor, nitric acid and aqua ammonia, which are sold primarily to our industrial customers.

Our principal assets as of December 31, 2022 include:

• five U.S. nitrogen manufacturing facilities, located in Donaldsonville, Louisiana (the largest nitrogen complex in the world); Sergeant Bluff, Iowa (our Port Neal complex); Yazoo City, Mississippi; Claremore, Oklahoma (our Verdigris complex); and Woodward, Oklahoma. These facilities are wholly owned directly or indirectly by CF Industries Nitrogen, LLC (CFN), of which we own approximately 89% and CHS Inc. (CHS) owns the remainder;

• two Canadian nitrogen manufacturing facilities, located in Medicine Hat, Alberta (the largest nitrogen complex in Canada) and Courtright, Ontario;

• a United Kingdom nitrogen manufacturing facility located in Billingham;

• an extensive system of terminals and associated transportation equipment located primarily in the Midwestern United States; and

• a 50% interest in Point Lisas Nitrogen Limited (PLNL), an ammonia production joint venture located in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad) that we account for under the equity method.

We have a strategic venture with CHS under which CHS owns an equity interest in CFN, a subsidiary of CF Holdings, which represents approximately 11% of the membership interests of CFN. We own the remaining membership interests. CHS also receives deliveries pursuant to a supply agreement under which CHS has the right to purchase annually from CFN up to approximately 1.1 million tons of granular urea and 580,000 tons of UAN at market prices. As a result of its minority equity interest in CFN, CHS is entitled to semi-annual cash distributions from CFN. We are also entitled to semi-annual cash distributions from CFN. See Note 17—Noncontrolling Interest for additional information on our strategic venture with CHS.

For the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, we sold 18.3 million, 18.5 million and 20.3 million product tons generating net sales of $11.19 billion, $6.54 billion and $4.12 billion, respectively.

Our principal executive offices are located outside of Chicago, Illinois, at 4 Parkway North, Deerfield, Illinois 60015, and our telephone number is 847-405-2400. Our Internet website address is www.cfindustries.com. Information made available on our website does not constitute part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We make available free of charge on or through our Internet website, www.cfindustries.com, all of our reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K and all amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is filed electronically with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Copies of our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Corporate Conduct and charters for the Audit Committee, Compensation and Management Development Committee, Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, and Environmental Sustainability and Community Committee

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

of our Board of Directors (the Board) are also available on our Internet website. We will provide electronic or paper copies of these documents free of charge upon request. The SEC also maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC.

Our Commitment to a Clean Energy Economy

We are taking significant steps to support a global hydrogen and clean fuel economy, through the production of green and blue ammonia. Since ammonia is one of the most efficient ways to transport and store hydrogen and is also a fuel in its own right, we believe that the Company, as the world’s largest producer of ammonia, with an unparalleled manufacturing and distribution network and deep technical expertise, is uniquely positioned to fulfill anticipated demand for hydrogen and ammonia from green and blue sources. Our approach includes green ammonia production, which refers to ammonia produced through a carbon-free process, and blue ammonia production, which relates to ammonia produced by conventional processes but with CO2 byproduct removed through carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).

In April 2021, we signed an engineering and procurement contract with thyssenkrupp to supply a 20 MW alkaline water electrolysis plant to produce green hydrogen at our Donaldsonville complex. Construction and installation, which is being managed by us, is expected to finish in 2023, with an estimated total cost of approximately $100 million. We will integrate the green hydrogen generated by the electrolysis plant into existing ammonia synthesis loops to enable the production of approximately 20,000 tons per year of green ammonia. We believe that the Donaldsonville green ammonia project will be the largest of its kind in North America.

In July 2022, we and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Mitsui) signed a joint development agreement for the companies’ proposed plans to construct an export-oriented blue ammonia facility. We and Mitsui continue to progress a front-end engineering and design (FEED) study for the project, and expect to make a final investment decision on the proposed facility in the second half of 2023. Should the companies agree to move forward, the ammonia facility would be constructed at our new Blue Point complex. We acquired the land on the west bank of the Mississippi river in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, for the complex during the third quarter of 2022. Construction and commissioning of a new world-scale ammonia plant typically takes approximately four years from the time construction begins.

We are also exploring opportunities to produce blue ammonia from our existing ammonia production network. We have announced a project with an estimated cost of $200 million to construct a CO2 dehydration and compression facility at our Donaldsonville complex to enable the transport and permanent sequestration of the ammonia process CO2 byproduct. Engineering activities and procurement of major equipment for the facility are in progress, and modification of the site’s existing equipment to allow integration with existing operations has begun. Once the dehydration and compression unit is in service and sequestration is initiated, we expect that the Donaldsonville complex will have the capacity to dehydrate and compress up to 2 million tons per year of CO2, enabling the production of blue ammonia. In October 2022, we announced that we had entered into a definitive CO2 offtake agreement with ExxonMobil to transport and permanently sequester the CO2 from Donaldsonville. Start-up for the project is scheduled for early 2025. Under current regulations, the project would be expected to qualify for tax credits under Section 45Q of the Internal Revenue Code, which provides a credit per tonne of CO2 sequestered.

Company History

We were founded in 1946 as Central Farmers Fertilizer Company, and were owned by a group of regional agriculture cooperatives for the first 59 years of our existence. Central Farmers became CF Industries in 1970.

Originally established as a fertilizer brokerage company, we expanded owning and operating fertilizer manufacturing and distribution facilities in the early 1950s with a principal objective of assured supply for our owners. At various times in our history, we manufactured and/or distributed nitrogen, phosphate and potash fertilizers.

We operated as a traditional manufacturing and supply cooperative until 2002, when we adopted a new business model that established financial performance as our principal objective, rather than assured supply for our owners. A critical aspect of the new business model was to establish a more economically driven approach to the marketplace.

In August 2005, we completed the initial public offering (IPO) of our common stock, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In connection with the IPO, we consummated a reorganization transaction whereby we ceased to be a cooperative and our pre-IPO owners’ equity interests in CF Industries were cancelled in exchange for all of the proceeds of the offering and shares of our common stock. At the time of the IPO, our assets consisted of one wholly owned nitrogen manufacturing facility in Louisiana, United States; a joint venture nitrogen manufacturing facility in Alberta, Canada, of which we owned 66 percent; a phosphate mining and manufacturing operation in Florida, United States; and distribution facilities throughout North America.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

In April 2010, we acquired Terra Industries Inc. (Terra), a leading North American producer and marketer of nitrogen fertilizer products for a purchase price of $4.6 billion, which was paid in cash and shares of our common stock. As a result of the Terra acquisition, we acquired five nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing facilities; an approximately 75.3% interest in Terra Nitrogen Company, L.P. (TNCLP), a publicly traded limited partnership; and certain joint venture interests.

Prior to April 30, 2013, CF Industries owned 66 percent of Canadian Fertilizers Limited (CFL), a joint venture nitrogen manufacturing facility in Alberta, Canada. On April 30, 2013, CF Industries acquired all of the outstanding interests in CFL that it did not already own and CFL became our wholly owned subsidiary.

In March 2014, we exited our phosphate mining and manufacturing business, which was located in Florida, through a sale to The Mosaic Company. As a result, we became focused solely on nitrogen manufacturing and distribution.

In July 2015, we acquired the remaining 50% equity interest in CF Fertilisers UK Group Limited (formerly known as GrowHow UK Group Limited) (CF Fertilisers UK) not previously owned by us, and CF Fertilisers UK became wholly owned by us. This transaction added CF Fertilisers UK’s nitrogen manufacturing complexes to our consolidated manufacturing capacity.

In February 2016, our strategic venture with CHS commenced, at which time CHS made a capital contribution of $2.8 billion to CFN in exchange for membership interests in CFN, which represented approximately 11% of the total membership interests of CFN.

In late 2015 and 2016, we completed capacity expansion projects at our Donaldsonville complex in Louisiana and our Port Neal complex in Iowa. These projects, originally announced in 2012, included the construction of new ammonia, urea, and UAN plants at our Donaldsonville complex and new ammonia and urea plants at our Port Neal complex. These plants increased our overall production capacity by approximately 25%, improved our product mix flexibility at Donaldsonville, and improved our ability to serve upper-Midwest urea customers from our Port Neal location. The total capital cost of the capacity expansion projects was $5.2 billion.

Prior to April 2, 2018, Terra Nitrogen, Limited Partnership, which owns and operates our Verdigris nitrogen manufacturing facility in Oklahoma, was a subsidiary of TNCLP. On April 2, 2018, Terra Nitrogen GP Inc., the sole general partner of TNCLP and an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of CF Holdings, completed its purchase of all of the publicly traded common units of TNCLP (the Purchase). Upon completion of the Purchase, CF Holdings owned, through its subsidiaries, 100 percent of the general and limited partnership interests of TNCLP.

Product Tons and Nutrient Tons

Unless otherwise stated, we measure our production and sales volume in this Annual Report on Form 10-K in product tons, which represents the weight of the product measured in short tons (one short ton is equal to 2,000 pounds). References to UAN product tons assume a 32% nitrogen content basis for production volume.

We also provide certain supplementary volume information measured in nutrient tons. Nutrient tons represent the weight of the product’s nitrogen content, which varies by product. Ammonia represents 82% nitrogen content, granular urea represents 46% nitrogen content, UAN represents between 28% and 32% nitrogen content and AN represents between 29% and 35% nitrogen content.

Reportable Segments

Our reportable segments consist of the following segments: Ammonia, Granular Urea, UAN, AN and Other. These segments are differentiated by products. We use gross margin to evaluate segment performance and allocate resources. Total other operating costs and expenses (consisting primarily of selling, general and administrative expenses and other operating—net) and non-operating expenses (consisting primarily of interest and income taxes), are centrally managed and are not included in the measurement of segment profitability reviewed by management. See Note 21—Segment Disclosures for additional information.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

Our Products

Our primary nitrogen products are ammonia, granular urea, UAN and AN. Our historical sales of nitrogen products by segment are shown in the following table. Net sales do not reflect amounts used internally, such as ammonia, in the manufacture of other products.

(1)Other segment products primarily include DEF, urea liquor, nitric acid and aqua ammonia.

Gross margin was $5.86 billion, $2.39 billion and $801 million for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

We own and operate seven nitrogen manufacturing facilities in North America, including five nitrogen manufacturing facilities in the United States, and two in Canada. As of December 31, 2022, the combined production capacity of these seven facilities represented approximately 37%, 42%, 44% and 19% of North American ammonia, granular urea, UAN and AN production capacity, respectively. Each of our nitrogen manufacturing facilities in North America has on-site storage to provide flexibility to manage the flow of outbound shipments without impacting production. Our United Kingdom nitrogen manufacturing facility produces ammonia and AN and serves primarily the British agricultural and industrial markets.

The following table shows the production capacities as of December 31, 2022 at each of our nitrogen manufacturing facilities:

(1)Average annual capacity includes allowance for normal outages and planned maintenance shutdowns.

(2)Gross ammonia capacity includes ammonia used to produce upgraded products. Net ammonia capacity is gross ammonia capacity less ammonia used to produce upgraded products based on the product mix shown in the table.

(3)Measured in tons of UAN containing 32% nitrogen by weight.

(4)Reflects granular urea capacity from the Donaldsonville, Medicine Hat, and Port Neal facilities. Urea liquor and DEF production capacities are included in Other.

(5)AN includes prilled products (Amtrate and industrial-grade AN, or IGAN) and AN solution produced for sale.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

(6)Includes product tons of: urea liquor and DEF from the Donaldsonville, Port Neal, Woodward, Yazoo City, and Courtright facilities; nitric acid from the Courtright, Yazoo City and Billingham facilities. Production of DEF can be increased by reducing urea and/or UAN production.

(7)The Donaldsonville facility capacities present an estimated production mix. This facility is capable of producing between 2.4 million and 3.3 million tons of granular urea and between 1.2 million and 4.3 million tons of UAN annually. The facility is also capable of producing up to 1.2 million product tons of 32.5% DEF.

(8)Reduction of UAN or AN production at the Yazoo City, Courtright, Verdigris, and Billingham facilities can allow more merchant nitric acid to be made available for sale.

(9)The Yazoo City facility’s production capacity depends on product mix. With the facility maximizing the production of AN products, 160,000 tons of UAN can be produced. UAN production can be increased to 450,000 tons by reducing the production of AN to 900,000 tons.

(10)Production of urea liquor and DEF at the Courtright facility can be increased by reducing UAN production.

(11)Represents our 50% interest in the capacity of PLNL.

The following table summarizes our production volume for the last three years:

(1)Gross ammonia production, including amounts subsequently upgraded on-site into granular urea, UAN or AN.

Nitrogen Manufacturing Facilities

Donaldsonville, Louisiana

The Donaldsonville facility is the world’s largest and most flexible nitrogen complex. It has six ammonia plants, five urea plants, four nitric acid plants, three UAN plants, and one DEF plant. The complex, which is located on the Mississippi River, includes deep-water docking facilities, access to an ammonia pipeline, and truck and railroad loading capabilities. The complex has on-site storage for 140,000 tons of ammonia, 201,000 tons of UAN (measured on a 32% nitrogen content basis) and 130,000 tons of granular urea.

Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

The Medicine Hat facility, located in southeast Alberta, is the largest nitrogen complex in Canada. It has two ammonia plants and one urea plant. The complex has on-site storage for 60,000 tons of ammonia and 60,000 tons of granular urea.

Sergeant Bluff, Iowa (the Port Neal facility)

The Port Neal facility is located approximately 12 miles south of Sioux City, Iowa, on the Missouri River in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa. The facility consists of two ammonia plants, three urea plants, two nitric acid plants and one UAN plant. The location has on-site storage for 85,000 tons of ammonia, 130,000 tons of granular urea, and 100,000 tons of 32% UAN.

Claremore, Oklahoma (the Verdigris facility)

The Verdigris facility is located northeast of Tulsa, Oklahoma, near the Verdigris River, in Claremore, Oklahoma. It is the second largest UAN production facility in North America. The facility comprises two ammonia plants, two nitric acid plants, two UAN plants and a port terminal. We lease the port terminal from the Tulsa-Rogers County Port Authority. The complex has on-site storage for 60,000 tons of ammonia and 100,000 tons of 32% UAN.

Woodward, Oklahoma

The Woodward facility is located in rural northwest Oklahoma and consists of one ammonia plant, two nitric acid plants, two urea plants and two UAN plants. The facility has on-site storage for 36,000 tons of ammonia and 84,000 tons of 32% UAN.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

Yazoo City, Mississippi

The Yazoo City facility is located in central Mississippi and includes one ammonia plant, four nitric acid plants, one AN plant, two urea plants, one UAN plant and a dinitrogen tetroxide production and storage facility. The site has on-site storage for 50,000 tons of ammonia, 48,000 tons of 32% UAN and 11,000 tons of AN and related products.

Courtright, Ontario, Canada

The Courtright facility is located south of Sarnia, Ontario near the St. Clair River. The facility consists of an ammonia plant, a UAN plant, a nitric acid plant and a urea plant. The location has on-site storage for 64,000 tons of ammonia and 16,000 tons of 32% UAN.

Billingham, United Kingdom

The Billingham facility, located in the Teesside chemical area in northeastern England, is geographically split among three primary locations: the main site, which contains an ammonia plant, three nitric acid plants and a carbon dioxide plant; the Portrack site, approximately two miles away, which contains an AN fertilizer plant; and the North Tees site, approximately seven miles away, which contains an ammonia storage area. These locations collectively have on-site storage for 40,000 tons of ammonia and 128,000 tons of AN.

Point Lisas, Trinidad

The Point Lisas Nitrogen facility in Trinidad is owned jointly through a 50/50 venture with Koch Fertilizer LLC. This facility has the capacity to produce 720,000 tons of ammonia annually from natural gas supplied under a contract with The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC).

Nitrogen Product Raw Materials

Natural gas is the principal raw material and primary fuel source used in the ammonia production process at our nitrogen manufacturing facilities. In 2022, natural gas accounted for approximately 50% of our total production costs for nitrogen products. Our nitrogen manufacturing facilities have access to abundant, competitively-priced natural gas through a reliable network of pipelines that are connected to major natural gas trading hubs. Our facilities utilize the following natural gas hubs: Henry Hub, SONAT and TETCO ELA in Louisiana; ONEOK in Oklahoma; AECO in Alberta; Ventura in Iowa; Demarcation in Kansas; Welcome in Minnesota; Dawn and Parkway in Ontario; and the National Balancing Point (NBP) in the United Kingdom.

In 2022, our nitrogen manufacturing facilities consumed, in the aggregate, approximately 330 million MMBtus of natural gas. We employ a combination of daily spot and term purchases from a variety of quality suppliers to maintain a reliable, competitively-priced supply of natural gas. We also use certain financial instruments to hedge natural gas prices. See Note 15—Derivative Financial Instruments for additional information about our natural gas hedging activities.

Nitrogen Product Distribution

The safe, efficient and economical distribution of nitrogen products is critical for successful operations. Our nitrogen production facilities have access to multiple transportation modes by which we ship products to terminals, warehouses and customers. Each of our production facilities has a unique distribution pattern based on its production capacity and location.

Our North American nitrogen production facilities can ship products via truck and rail to customers and to our storage facilities in the U.S. and Canada, with access to our leased railcar fleet of approximately 5,000 tank and hopper cars, as well as railcars provided by rail carriers. Our United Kingdom nitrogen production facility mainly ships products via truck.

The North American waterway system is also used extensively to ship products from our Donaldsonville, Verdigris and Yazoo City facilities. To ship ammonia and UAN, we employ a fleet of up to eleven tow boats and thirty-six river barges, which are primarily leased. We also utilize contract marine services to move granular urea and AN. We can also export nitrogen products via seagoing vessels from our Donaldsonville and Billingham manufacturing facilities.

The Donaldsonville facility is connected to the 2,000-mile long Nustar pipeline through which we have the ability to transport ammonia to ten terminals and shipping points in the Midwestern U.S. corn belt.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

Storage Facilities and Other Properties

As of December 31, 2022, we owned or leased space at 50 in-market storage terminals and warehouses located in a 21-state region of the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Including storage at our production facilities, we have an aggregate storage capacity for approximately 3.0 million tons of product. Our storage capabilities are summarized in the following table:

(1)Capacity is expressed as the equivalent volume of UAN measured on a 32% nitrogen content basis.

(2)The owned facilities that store UAN also can store ammonia.

(3)Our lease agreements are typically for periods of one to five years and commonly contain provisions for automatic renewal that can extend the lease term unless cancelled by either party.

Customers

The principal customers for our nitrogen products are cooperatives, independent fertilizer distributors, traders, wholesalers and industrial users. Sales are generated by our internal marketing and sales force. CHS was our largest customer in 2022 and accounted for approximately 13% of our consolidated net sales. We have a strategic venture with CHS under which CHS has a minority equity interest in CFN. See Note 17—Noncontrolling Interest for additional information on our strategic venture with CHS.

Competition

Our markets are global and intensely competitive, based primarily on delivered price and, to a lesser extent, on customer service and product quality. During the peak demand periods, product availability and delivery time also play a role in the buying decisions of customers.

Our primary North American-based competitors include Nutrien Ltd., Koch Fertilizer LLC, N-7 LLC (a joint venture between OCI N.V. and Dakota Gasification Company) and Yara International. There is also significant competition from products sourced from other regions of the world, including some with lower natural gas or other feedstock costs, which may include the benefit of government subsidies. Because ammonia, urea and UAN are widely-traded fertilizer products and there are limited barriers to entry, we experience competition from foreign-sourced products continuously. Producers of nitrogen-based fertilizers located in the Middle East, Trinidad, North Africa and Russia have been major exporters to North America in recent years.

Our primary United Kingdom competition comes from imported products supplied by companies including Yara International, Origin Fertilisers, Ameropa and Thomas Bell & Sons Ltd. Urea and UAN are not produced in the United Kingdom, but along with AN are widely-traded fertilizer products with limited barriers to entry.

Seasonality

The fertilizer business is seasonal. The degree of seasonality of our business can change significantly from year to year due to weather conditions in the agricultural industry and other factors. The strongest demand for our products in North America occurs during the spring planting season, with a second period of strong demand following the fall harvest. In contrast, we and other fertilizer producers generally manufacture and distribute products throughout the year. As a result, we and/or our customers generally build inventories during the low demand periods of the year to ensure timely product availability during the peak sales seasons. Seasonality is greatest for ammonia due to the short application season and the limited ability of our customers and their customers to store significant quantities of this product. The seasonality of fertilizer demand generally results in our sales volumes and net sales being the highest during the spring and our working capital requirements being the highest just prior to the start of the spring planting season. Our quarterly financial results can vary significantly from one year to

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the next due to weather-related shifts in planting and application schedules and purchasing patterns as well as import timing, import and distribution costs and logistical limitations, such as river conditions.

Environmental, Health and Safety

We are subject to numerous environmental, health and safety laws and regulations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union (EU) and Trinidad, including laws and regulations relating to the generation and handling of hazardous substances and wastes; the introduction of new chemicals or substances into a market; the cleanup of hazardous substance releases; the discharge of regulated substances to air or water; and the demolition of existing plant sites upon permanent closure. In the United States, these laws include the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) and various other federal, state and local statutes. Violations of environmental, health and safety laws can result in substantial penalties, court orders to install pollution-control equipment, civil and criminal sanctions, permit revocations and facility shutdowns. In addition, environmental, health and safety laws and regulations may impose joint and several liability, without regard to fault, for cleanup costs on potentially responsible parties who have released or disposed of hazardous substances into the environment. We may be subject to more stringent enforcement of existing or new environmental, health and safety laws in the future.

Environmental, Health and Safety Expenditures

Our environmental, health and safety capital expenditures in 2022 totaled approximately $31 million. We estimate that we will have approximately $57 million of environmental, health and safety capital expenditures in 2023. In addition, to support safe and reliable operations at our continuous process manufacturing facilities, we conduct scheduled inspections, replacements and overhauls of our plant machinery and equipment, which are referred to as turnarounds. A further description of turnaround activities is included in Note 6—Property, Plant and Equipment—Net in the notes to consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this report. Environmental, health and safety laws and regulations are complex, change frequently and have tended to become more stringent over time. We expect that continued government and public emphasis on environmental issues will result in increased future expenditures for environmental controls at our manufacturing and distribution facilities. Such expenditures could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Additionally, future environmental, health and safety laws and regulations or reinterpretation of current laws and regulations may require us to make substantial expenditures. Our costs to comply with, or any liabilities under, these laws and regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

CERCLA/Remediation Matters

From time to time, we receive notices from governmental agencies or third parties alleging that we are a potentially responsible party at certain cleanup sites under CERCLA or other environmental cleanup laws. In 2011, we received a notice from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ) that alleged that we were a potentially responsible party for the cleanup of a former phosphate mine site we owned in the late 1950s and early 1960s located in Georgetown Canyon, Idaho. The current owner of the property and a former mining contractor received similar notices for the site. In 2014, we and the current property owner entered into a Consent Order with IDEQ and the U.S. Forest Service to conduct a remedial investigation and feasibility study of the site. The remedial investigation was submitted to the agencies in 2021. The next step will be a risk assessment, followed by a feasibility study. In 2015, we and several other parties received a notice that the U.S. Department of the Interior and other trustees intended to undertake a natural resource damage assessment for 18 former phosphate mines and three former processing facilities in southeast Idaho, which includes the Georgetown Canyon former mine and processing facility. See Note 20—Contingencies for additional information.

Regulation of Greenhouse Gases

Our production facilities emit greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. Natural gas, a fossil fuel, is a primary raw material used in our nitrogen production process. We are subject to GHG regulations in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.

Our U.K. manufacturing plant is required to report GHG emissions annually to the United Kingdom Environment Agency pursuant to its site Environmental Permits and Climate Change Agreement, which specifies energy efficiency targets. Failure to meet efficiency targets may require the plant to purchase CO2 emissions allowances. Our U.K. manufacturing plant is subject to the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS), which generally requires us to hold or obtain emission allowances to offset GHG emissions from those aspects of our operations that are subject to regulation under this program.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

In Canada, we are required to conduct an annual review of our operations with respect to compliance with Environment Canada’s National Pollutant Release Inventory, Ontario’s Mandatory Monitoring and Reporting Regulation, and the GHG Reporting Regulation. In addition, our manufacturing plants in Alberta and Ontario are subject to provincial or federal laws that impose a price on excess GHG emissions. Each of these laws establishes carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions standards applicable to our facilities in terms of emissions per unit of production, with the provincial laws and the federal law using different formulas for establishing the intensity-based limits and the reductions in these limits over time. The federal law is the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, which came into effect in 2018 and is intended to function only as a backstop to the provincial programs if such programs do not meet minimum federal criteria. In 2022, the federal government found that both the Alberta and Ontario programs for 2023-2030 met such minimum criteria, and therefore, the provincial laws apply. Effective January 1, 2023, these provincial regulations will increase in stringency from 2022 levels. If a facility’s CO2e emissions exceed the applicable limit, the excess emissions must be offset, either through obtaining qualifying emission credits or by making a payment for each ton of excess emissions. For calendar year 2023, the excess emissions fee under the federal, Alberta and Ontario regulatory programs is CAD $65 per tonne, which fee will increase by CAD $15 per tonne per year, reaching CAD $170 per tonne by 2030.

In the United States, GHG regulation is evolving at state, regional and federal levels, although some of the more significant developments to date, including efforts of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate GHG emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants, do not directly impose obligations on our facilities. The EPA issued a mandatory GHG reporting rule that required all of our U.S. manufacturing facilities, which are considered large emitters of GHGs, to commence monitoring GHG emissions beginning on January 1, 2010 and reporting the previous year’s emissions annually starting in 2011. In addition, if we seek to modify or expand any of our major facilities and as a result, are required to obtain a Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) construction permit applicable to such facilities, we could be subject to pollution control requirements applicable to GHGs in addition to requirements applicable to conventional air pollutants. Such requirements may result in increased costs or delays in completing such projects. Other than the states’ implementation of this permitting requirement, none of the states where our U.S. production facilities are located – Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma – has proposed control regulations limiting GHG emissions.

Increasing concern over the impacts of climate change is driving countries to establish ever more ambitious GHG reduction targets. Approximately 200 countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the members of the EU have joined the Paris Agreement, an international agreement intended to provide a framework pursuant to which the parties to the agreement will attempt to hold the increase in global average temperatures to below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Each signatory is required to develop its own national plan to attain this objective. In December 2020, the United Kingdom announced a target to reduce GHG emissions 68% from the baseline year of 1990 by 2030. Canada has increased its emissions reduction target under the Paris Agreement to 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2030, up from 30%. In April 2021, the United States increased its goal to reduce GHG emissions to 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030. Executive orders issued by the Biden administration, including in particular an executive order issued on January 27, 2021 focusing on climate change, evidence the administration’s intent to undertake numerous initiatives in an effort to reduce GHG emissions, including promoting renewable energy development, limiting new oil and gas leases on federal lands and, in general, making climate change considerations a critical component of federal policy.

Regulatory Permits and Approvals

We hold numerous environmental and other governmental permits and approvals authorizing operations at each of our facilities. A decision by a government agency to deny or delay issuing a new or renewed regulatory material permit or approval, or to revoke or substantially modify an existing material permit or approval, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue operations at the affected facility. Any future expansion of our existing operations is also predicated upon securing the necessary environmental or other permits or approvals. More stringent environmental standards may impact our ability to obtain such permits.

Human Capital Resources

Our long-term success depends on our people. We are dedicated to creating a workplace where employees are proud to work and grow and where everyone feels empowered to do their best work. We do this by investing in extensive recruitment, training and professional development opportunities for our employees and fostering diversity and inclusion in our culture.

Employee Population. We employed approximately 2,700 employees at December 31, 2022, of which 76% were located in the United States, 15% in Canada, and 9% in the United Kingdom. As of December 31, 2022, 12% of our employees have worked for the Company more than 20 years, 18% of our employees have worked for the Company between 11 and 20 years, 28% of our employees have worked for the Company between 6 and 10 years, and 42% of our employees have worked at the

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

Company for less than 6 years. Full-time employees represented nearly 100% of our workforce as of December 31, 2022 and approximately 6% were covered by collective bargaining agreements. We supplement our workforce with contractors with specialized skill sets during periods of peak activity, such as during turnarounds and maintenance events.

Culture, Inclusion and Diversity. Our core values and their underlying principles reflect our commitment to a diverse and inclusive culture, treating one another with respect. Across the Company, all employees completed training to learn to recognize and address the effects of unconscious bias by challenging assumptions; encouraging diversity of experience, opinion, and expression; and supporting a workplace culture that actively strives to be more inclusive. As of December 31, 2022, approximately 15% of our global workforce was female and 17% of the Company’s employees in frontline managerial roles were female. Minorities represented approximately 17% of the Company’s U.S. workforce and 15% of our U.S. employees in managerial roles. In order to continue to improve the inclusiveness and diversity of our company and culture, our comprehensive ESG goals announced in 2020 include goals to increase the representation of females and persons of color in senior leadership roles and to implement a program designed to increase the hiring and promotion of minority and female candidates. As of December 31, 2022, we had exceeded our representation goal with approximately 38% of senior leadership roles held by females and persons of color.

Workforce Health and Safety. Operating in a safe and responsible manner is a core value and an integral part of what sets the Company apart. We believe that focusing on leading indicators - such as the behavioral safety practices we have incorporated into our annual incentive plan — to drive and measure activities that prevent safety incidents, results in our industry-leading safety record. As of December 31, 2022, our employee 12-month rolling average recordable incident rate (RIR) was 0.33 incidents per 200,000 work hours, and during the year ended December 31, 2022, our total recordable injury count was nine. For the year ended December 31, 2022, our days away, restricted or transferred (DART) incident rate was 0.22 injuries per 200,000 work hours, and our lost time incident rate was 0.04 injuries per 200,000 work hours.

Talent Development. A core aspect of our culture is our commitment to identifying and developing talent to help employees accelerate growth and achieve their career goals. We invest in extensive assessment, training and professional development opportunities for our employees through a robust set of formal and informal programs, including targeted job movements, key experiences, and training, with an emphasis on creating a culture of inclusion. Leadership is the quality that drives our values and sets us apart. To help foster leadership, we have developed a set of leadership competencies that provide a common language for how to demonstrate leadership at every level of the organization and have embedded them into all talent management processes, including selection, performance management and succession planning. We view training and development programs as being a key part of talent management, allowing us to grow a stronger company today and in the future.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

In addition to the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, you should carefully consider the factors discussed below before deciding to invest in any of our securities. These risks and uncertainties, individually or in combination, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. References to tons refer to short tons and references to tonnes refer to metric tons.

Market Risks

Our business is cyclical, resulting in periods of industry oversupply during which our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows tend to be negatively affected.

Historically, selling prices for our products, which are generally global commodities, have fluctuated in response to periodic changes in supply and demand conditions. Demand for nitrogen is affected by planted acreage, crop selection and fertilizer application rates, driven by population growth, gross domestic product growth, changes in dietary habits and non-food use of crops, such as production of ethanol and other biofuels among other things. Demand also includes industrial uses of nitrogen, for example chemical manufacturing and emissions reductants such as diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). Supply is affected primarily by available production capacity and operating rates, raw material costs and availability, energy prices, government policies and global trade.

Periods of strong demand, high capacity utilization and increasing operating margins tend to stimulate global investment in production capacity. In the past, fertilizer producers, including CF Holdings, have built new production facilities or expanded capacity of existing production assets, or announced plans to do so. The construction of new nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing capacity in the industry, plus improvements to increase output from the existing production assets, increase nitrogen supply availability and affect the balance of supply and demand and nitrogen selling prices. In certain years, global nitrogen fertilizer capacity has increased faster than global nitrogen fertilizer demand, creating a surplus of global nitrogen fertilizer capacity, which has led to lower nitrogen fertilizer selling prices. For example, in the two-year period ended December 31, 2017, additional production capacity came on line and, at the same time, the average selling price for our products declined 34%, from $314 per ton in 2015 to $207 per ton in 2017.

Additional production capacity is expected to come on line over the next 12 months outside of North America. In addition, plans for building new facilities for green and blue ammonia have been announced by other companies and CF Holdings, such as our proposed plans for an export-oriented greenfield blue ammonia production facility in the southeastern United States. We cannot predict the impact of this additional capacity on nitrogen fertilizer selling prices. Also, global or local economic, political and financial conditions or changes in such conditions, or other factors, may cause acceleration of announced and/or ongoing projects. Similarly, lower energy prices can spur increases in production in high cost regions, which would result in increased supply and pressure on selling prices. Additionally, if imports increase into an oversupplied region, lower prices in that region could result.

During periods of industry oversupply, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows tend to be affected negatively as the price at which we sell our products typically declines, resulting in possible reduced profit margins, write-downs in the value of our inventory and temporary or permanent curtailments of production. In recent years, we have experienced periods of industry oversupply, which impacted our financial performance, credit ratings and the trading price for our common stock. Due to the cyclical nature of our industry, we cannot predict the timing or duration of oversupply conditions or the degree to which oversupply conditions would impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Nitrogen products are global commodities, and we face intense global competition from other producers.

We are subject to intense price competition from our competitors. The nitrogen products that we produce are global commodities, with little or no product differentiation, and customers make their purchasing decisions principally on the basis of delivered price and, to a lesser extent, customer service and product quality. As a consequence, conditions in the international market for nitrogen products significantly influence our operating results.

We compete with many producers, including state-owned and government-subsidized entities. Some of our competitors have greater total resources and are less dependent on earnings from fertilizer sales, which make them less vulnerable to industry downturns and better positioned to pursue new expansion and development opportunities. Furthermore, certain governments, in some cases as owners of some of our competitors, may be willing to accept lower prices and profitability on their products or subsidize production or consumption in order to support domestic employment or other political or social goals. Our competitive position could suffer as a result of these factors, including if we are not able to expand our own resources to a similar extent, either through investments in new or existing operations or through acquisitions or joint ventures.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

China, the world’s largest producer and consumer of nitrogen fertilizers, currently has surplus capacity and many high-cost plants. As a result, the domestic nitrogen industry in China is operating at less than full capacity. In addition, the Chinese government is currently limiting exports through a variety of measures. A number of factors could encourage China to increase product capacity utilization, including changes in Chinese government policy, devaluation of the Chinese renminbi, the relaxation of Chinese environmental standards or decreases in Chinese producers’ underlying costs such as the price of Chinese coal. Any resulting increase in export volume could adversely affect the balance between global supply and demand and put downward pressure on global fertilizer prices, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

From time to time, certain of our competitors with significant nitrogen fertilizer export capacity have benefited from non-market pricing of natural gas, which has resulted in significant volumes of exports to the United States. For example, the 2016 revocations of U.S. antidumping measures on solid urea and fertilizer grade ammonium nitrate from Russia allowed for increased imports from that country into the United States in recent years. In addition, in recent years, high volumes of urea ammonium nitrate solution (UAN) imports from Russia and The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad) have negatively affected U.S. producers’ UAN profitability.

We also face competition from other fertilizer producers in the Middle East, Europe, Latin America and Africa. These producers, depending on market conditions, fluctuating input prices, geographic location and freight economics, may take actions at times with respect to price or selling volumes that adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Some of these producers also benefit from non-market or government-set rates for natural gas pricing. Government policies in these regions may also stimulate future ammonia or hydrogen investments. Recently, many proposed green and blue ammonia projects have been announced or considered, and future hydrogen, energy, or environmental/carbon policies may support development of additional nitrogen production in locations outside North America, i

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None.

Information regarding our facilities and properties is included in Item 1. Business—Nitrogen Manufacturing Facilities and Item 1. Business—Storage Facilities and Other Properties.

For information on pending proceedings relating to environmental remediation matters, see Item 1. Business—Environmental, Health and Safety—CERCLA/Remediation Matters and Note 20—Contingencies in the notes to consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this report.

Not applicable.

PART II

Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CF.” As of February 13, 2023, there were 689 stockholders of record.

The following table sets forth share repurchases, on a trade date basis, for each of the three months of the quarter ended December 31, 2022:

(1)Average price paid per share of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF Holdings) common stock repurchased under the 2021 Share Repurchase Program, as defined below, is the execution price, excluding commissions paid to brokers.

(2)On November 3, 2021, we announced that our Board of Directors (the Board) authorized the repurchase of up to $1.5 billion of CF Holdings common stock from January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2024 (the 2021 Share Repurchase Program). On November 2, 2022, we announced that the Board authorized the repurchase of up to $3 billion of CF Holdings common stock commencing upon completion of the 2021 Share Repurchase Program and effective through December 31, 2025. These share repurchase programs are discussed in Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Share Repurchase Programs and in Note 18—Stockholders’ Equity, in the notes to consolidated financial statements included in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

(3)Includes 3,856 shares withheld to pay employee tax obligations upon the lapse of restrictions on restricted stock units and performance restricted stock units.

(4)Represents shares withheld to pay employee tax obligations upon the lapse of restrictions on restricted stock units.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

You should read the following discussion and analysis in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes included in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data. All references to “CF Holdings,” “we,” “us,” “our” and “the Company” refer to CF Industries Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries, except where the context makes clear that the reference is only to CF Industries Holdings, Inc. itself and not its subsidiaries. All references to “CF Industries” refer to CF Industries, Inc., a 100% owned subsidiary of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. References to tons refer to short tons and references to tonnes refer to metric tons. Notes referenced in this discussion and analysis refer to the notes to consolidated financial statements that are found in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data—Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements. For a discussion and analysis of the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to December 31, 2020, you should read Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 24, 2022. The following is an outline of the discussion and analysis included herein:

• Overview of CF Holdings

*•*Market Conditions and Current Developments

*•*Financial Executive Summary

*•*Items Affecting Comparability of Results

• Consolidated Results of Operations

*•*Operating Results by Business Segment

• Liquidity and Capital Resources

• Critical Accounting Estimates

Overview of CF Holdings

Our Company

Our mission is to provide clean energy to feed and fuel the world sustainably. With our employees focused on safe and reliable operations, environmental stewardship, and disciplined capital and corporate management, we are on a path to decarbonize our ammonia production network – the world’s largest – to enable green and blue hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement, and other industrial activities. Our nitrogen manufacturing complexes in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, an extensive storage, transportation and distribution network in North America, and logistics capabilities enabling a global reach underpin our strategy to leverage our unique capabilities to accelerate the world’s transition to clean energy. Our principal customers are cooperatives, independent fertilizer distributors, traders, wholesalers and industrial users. Our core product is anhydrous ammonia (ammonia), which contains 82% nitrogen and 18% hydrogen. Our nitrogen products that are upgraded from ammonia are granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate solution (UAN) and ammonium nitrate (AN). Our other nitrogen products include diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), urea liquor, nitric acid and aqua ammonia, which are sold primarily to our industrial customers.

Our principal assets as of December 31, 2022 include:

• five U.S. nitrogen manufacturing facilities, located in Donaldsonville, Louisiana (the largest nitrogen complex in the world); Sergeant Bluff, Iowa (our Port Neal complex); Yazoo City, Mississippi; Claremore, Oklahoma (our Verdigris complex); and Woodward, Oklahoma. These facilities are wholly owned directly or indirectly by CF Industries Nitrogen, LLC (CFN), of which we own approximately 89% and CHS Inc. (CHS) owns the remainder (see Note 17—Noncontrolling Interest for additional information on our strategic venture with CHS);

• two Canadian nitrogen manufacturing facilities, located in Medicine Hat, Alberta (the largest nitrogen complex in Canada) and Courtright, Ontario;

• a United Kingdom nitrogen manufacturing facility located in Billingham;

• an extensive system of terminals and associated transportation equipment located primarily in the Midwestern United States; and

• a 50% interest in Point Lisas Nitrogen Limited (PLNL), an ammonia production joint venture located in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad) that we account for under the equity method.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

We previously operated a United Kingdom nitrogen manufacturing facility located in Ince. In June 2022, we approved and announced our proposed plan to restructure our U.K. operations, including the planned permanent closure of our Ince facility. In August 2022, the final restructuring plan was approved, and decommissioning activities were initiated. See “Market Conditions and Current Developments—United Kingdom Operations,” below, for more information.

Our Commitment to a Clean Energy Economy

We are taking significant steps to support a global hydrogen and clean fuel economy, through the production of green and blue ammonia. Since ammonia is one of the most efficient ways to transport and store hydrogen and is also a fuel in its own right, we believe that the Company, as the world’s largest producer of ammonia with an unparalleled manufacturing and distribution network and deep technical expertise, is uniquely positioned to fulfill anticipated demand for hydrogen and ammonia from green and blue sources. Our approach includes green ammonia production, which refers to ammonia produced through a carbon-free process, and blue ammonia production, which relates to ammonia produced by conventional processes but with CO2 byproduct removed through carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).

In April 2021, we signed an engineering and procurement contract with thyssenkrupp to supply a 20 MW alkaline water electrolysis plant to produce green hydrogen at our Donaldsonville complex. Construction and installation, which is being managed by us, and is expected to finish in 2023, with an estimated total cost of approximately $100 million. We will integrate the green hydrogen generated by the electrolysis plant into existing ammonia synthesis loops to enable the production of approximately 20,000 tons per year of green ammonia. We believe that the Donaldsonville green ammonia project will be the largest of its kind in North America.

In July 2022, we and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Mitsui) signed a joint development agreement for the companies’ proposed plans to construct an export-oriented blue ammonia facility. We and Mitsui continue to progress a front-end engineering and design (FEED) study for the project, and expect to make a final investment decision on the proposed facility in the second half of 2023. Should the companies agree to move forward, the ammonia facility would be constructed at our new Blue Point complex. We acquired the land on the west bank of the Mississippi river in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, for the complex during the third quarter of 2022. Construction and commissioning of a new world-scale ammonia plant typically takes approximately four years from the time construction begins.

We are also exploring opportunities to produce blue ammonia from our existing ammonia production network. We have announced a project with an estimated cost of $200 million to construct a CO2 dehydration and compression facility at our Donaldsonville complex to enable the transport and permanent sequestration of the ammonia process CO2 byproduct. Engineering activities and procurement of major equipment for the facility are in progress, and modification of the site’s existing equipment to allow integration with existing operations has begun. Once the dehydration and compression unit is in service and sequestration is initiated, we expect that the Donaldsonville complex will have the capacity to dehydrate and compress up to 2 million tons per year of CO2, enabling the production of blue ammonia. In October 2022, we announced that we had entered into a definitive CO2 offtake agreement with ExxonMobil to transport and permanently sequester the CO2 from Donaldsonville. Start-up for the project is scheduled for early 2025. Under current regulations, the project would be expected to qualify for tax credits under Section 45Q of the Internal Revenue C

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We are exposed to the impact of changes in commodity prices, interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates.

Commodity Prices

Our net sales, cash flows and estimates of future cash flows related to nitrogen-based products are sensitive to changes in selling prices as well as changes in the prices of natural gas and other raw materials unless these costs have been fixed or hedged. A $1.00 per MMBtu change in the price of natural gas would change the cost to produce a ton of ammonia, granular urea, UAN (32%) and AN by approximately $32, $22, $14 and $15, respectively.

Natural gas is the largest and most volatile component of the manufacturing cost for nitrogen-based products. At certain times, we have managed the risk of changes in natural gas prices through the use of derivative financial instruments. The derivative instruments that we may use for this purpose are primarily natural gas fixed price swaps, basis swaps and options. These derivatives settle using primarily a NYMEX futures price index, which represents the basis for fair value at any given time. The contracts represent anticipated natural gas needs for future periods and settlements are scheduled to coincide with anticipated natural gas purchases during those future periods. As of December 31, 2022, we had natural gas derivative contracts covering certain periods through March 2023.

As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we had open derivative contracts for 66.3 million MMBtus and 60.0 million MMBtus, respectively. A $1.00 per MMBtu increase in the forward curve prices of natural gas at December 31, 2022 would result in a favorable change in the fair value of these derivative positions of $39 million, and a $1.00 per MMBtu decrease in the forward curve prices of natural gas would change their fair value unfavorably by $39 million.

From time to time, we may purchase nitrogen products on the open market to augment or replace production at our facilities.

Interest Rates

As of December 31, 2022, we had four series of senior notes totaling $3.00 billion of principal outstanding with maturity dates of December 1, 2026, March 15, 2034, June 1, 2043 and March 15, 2044. The senior notes have fixed interest rates. As of December 31, 2022, the carrying value and fair value of our senior notes was approximately $2.97 billion and $2.76 billion, respectively.

Borrowings under the Revolving Credit Agreement bear current market rates of interest and we are subject to interest rate risk on such borrowings. There were no borrowings outstanding under the Revolving Credit Agreement as of December 31, 2022 or 2021, or during 2022 or 2021.

Foreign Currency Exchange Rates

We are directly exposed to changes in the value of the Canadian dollar, the British pound and the euro. We generally do not maintain any exchange rate derivatives or hedges related to these currencies.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Stockholders and Board of Directors

CF Industries Holdings, Inc.:

Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. and subsidiaries (the Company) as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes (collectively, the consolidated financial statements). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the three‑year period ended December 31, 2022, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, and our report dated February 23, 2023 expressed an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

Basis for Opinion

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

Measurements of projected benefit obligations

As discussed in Note 11 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company’s projected benefit obligation (PBO) associated with its defined benefit pension plans established in North America and the United Kingdom was $274 million and $347 million, respectively, as of December 31, 2022. The Company’s PBO represents an actuarially determined estimate of the present value of the future benefit payments attributed to past service under its pension plans to the beneficiaries of those plans. In addition to measuring the PBO as of December 31, 2022, a remeasurement of the PBO was done in July 2022 when the Company entered into an agreement with an insurance company to purchase a non-participating group annuity contract and transferred approximately $375 million of its primary U.S. defined benefit pension plan’s PBO to the insurance company. Determining the PBO requires the Company to make assumptions, including the selection of a discount rate for each of the North American and United Kingdom plans and assumptions relating to inflationary increases, including but not limited to an adjusted retail price index (RPI) for the United Kingdom plans. The selected discount rates and adjusted RPI are then applied to these future benefit payments in determining the present value of those obligations.

We identified the evaluation of the Company’s PBO measurements in July 2022 and as of December 31, 2022 to be a critical audit matter. Specialized skills were needed to evaluate the assumptions regarding the discount rates utilized in the measurement of the PBO for each of the North American and United Kingdom plans and the adjusted RPI utilized in the measurement of the PBO for the Company’s United Kingdom plans. In addition, a high degree of auditor judgment was required to evaluate these discount rates and the adjusted RPI, as minor changes to these assumptions could have had a significant impact on the PBO.

The following are the primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter. We evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of certain internal controls over the Company’s pension accounting process, including controls related to the determination of discount rates and adjusted RPI assumptions. We involved actuarial professionals with specialized skills and knowledge, who assisted in:

• developing an understanding and assessing the methods used by the Company’s actuaries to develop the discount rates and adjusted RPI

• evaluating the relevance and reliability of information used by the Company’s actuaries in the development of the discount rates and the adjusted RPI

• evaluating the North American discount rates’ period over period change using market trends based on published yield curves and indices

• recalculating the Company’s single equivalent discount rate using the PBO cash flows and the Company’s actuaries’ proprietary yield curve for the North American discount rates

• independently developing a single equivalent discount rate using the PBO cash flows and publicly available yield curves for the North American pension plans, and comparing that to the Company’s selected discount rates for North America

• developing discount rates using publicly available yield curves for the United Kingdom, adjusted for the assessment of the timing of payments expected to be made to beneficiaries under the Company’s pension plans, and comparing those to the Company’s selected discount rates for the United Kingdom

• developed an inflationary factor using published spot rate projection based on the assessment of the timing of payments expected to be made to beneficiaries under the Company’s pension plans within the United Kingdom, and comparing that to the Company’s adjusted RPI.

Salvage values of property, plant, and equipment at the Ince facility

As discussed in Notes 2, 5, and 6 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company recognized long-lived asset impairment charges of $152 million in the year ended December 31, 2022, including $135 million of property, plant, and equipment impairment related to the restructuring of its operations within the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom restructuring plan included a planned permanent closure of the Company’s Ince facility, whic

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None.

(a) Disclosure Controls and Procedures. The Company’s management, with the participation of the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act)) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on such evaluation, the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer have concluded that, as of the end of such period, the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures are effective in (i) ensuring that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms and (ii) ensuring that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management, including the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

(b) Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting.

Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

The Company’s management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act, for the Company. Under the supervision and with the participation of our senior management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, using the criteria set forth in the Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in 2013. Based on this assessment, management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting is effective as of December 31, 2022. KPMG LLP, the independent registered public accounting firm that audited the Company’s consolidated financial statements, has issued an attestation report on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, which appears on the following page.

(c) Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting. There have not been any changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the quarter ended December 31, 2022 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

While there was no impact on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ended December 31, 2022, in the first quarter of 2023, the Company is upgrading its enterprise resource planning system (ERP) for its North American operations to SAP S/4HANA. As a result, related changes in its internal control over financial reporting are expected due to the implementation.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Stockholders and Board of Directors

CF Industries Holdings, Inc.:

Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

We have audited CF Industries Holdings, Inc. and subsidiaries’ (the Company) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes (collectively, the consolidated financial statements), and our report dated February 23, 2023 expressed an unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements.

Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

(signed) KPMG LLP

Chicago, Illinois

February 23, 2023

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

None.

Not applicable.

PART III

Information appearing in the Proxy Statement under the headings “Proposal 1: Election of Directors—Director Nominees”; “Proposal 1: Election of Directors—Director Nominee Biographies”; “Executive Officers”; “Corporate Governance—Committees of the Board—Audit Committee”; and, if required, “Delinquent Section 16(a) Reports” is incorporated herein by reference.

We have adopted a Code of Corporate Conduct that applies to our employees, directors and officers, including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer. The Code of Corporate Conduct is posted on our Internet website, www.cfindustries.com. We will provide an electronic or paper copy of this document free of charge upon request. We intend to disclose on our Internet website any amendment to any provision of the Code of Corporate Conduct that relates to any element of the definition of “code of ethics” enumerated in Item 406(b) of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act and any waiver from any such provision granted to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller or persons performing similar functions.

During the last completed fiscal year, Stephen J. Hagge, Javed Ahmed, John W. Eaves, Anne P. Noonan, Michael J. Toelle and Celso L. White (from January to May 2022) served as the members of the Compensation and Management Development Committee of the Board.

Information appearing under the following headings of the Proxy Statement is incorporated herein by reference: “Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” “Compensation Discussion and Analysis—Compensation Discussion and Analysis: In Detail—Other Compensation Governance Practices and Considerations—Compensation and Benefits Risk Analysis,” “Compensation Committee Report,” “Executive Compensation” and “Corporate Governance—Director Compensation.”

Information appearing under the following headings of the Proxy Statement is incorporated herein by reference: “Common Stock Ownership—Common Stock Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners” and “Common Stock Ownership—Common Stock Ownership of Directors and Management.”

We currently issue stock-based compensation under the CF Industries Holdings, Inc. 2022 Equity and Incentive Plan (the 2022 Equity and Incentive Plan) which permits grants of stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units and other stock-based awards, which in each case may be conditioned on performance criteria, to employees and certain consultants of the Company and its subsidiaries and non-employee directors of the Company.

Equity Compensation Plan Information as of December 31, 2022

(1)Includes 162,036 shares issuable pursuant to outstanding nonqualified stock options, 546,680 shares issuable pursuant to restricted stock units (RSUs) and 1,447,274 shares issuable pursuant to performance restricted stock units (PSUs) under the 2022 Equity and Incentive Plan, the CF Industries Holdings, Inc. 2014 Equity and Incentive Plan (the 2014 Equity and Incentive Plan) and the CF

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

Industries Holdings, Inc. 2009 Equity Incentive Plan. PSUs are subject to attainment of the applicable performance goals during the three-year performance period and are reflected at their maximum potential payout. The PSUs included in this table reflect the full amount awarded to plan participants in 2020, 2021 and 2022. The three-year performance periods for the PSUs awarded in 2020, 2021 and 2022 are in each case composed of three one-year periods with performance goals set annually. Because accounting rules require performance goals to be set before a PSU is determined for accounting purposes to have been granted, the number of PSUs reported as outstanding as of December 31, 2022 in Note 19—Stock-based Compensation reflects all of the PSUs awarded in 2020, but only two-thirds of the PSUs awarded in 2021 and one-third of the PSUs awarded in 2022.

(2)RSUs and PSUs are not reflected in the weighted-average exercise price as these awards do not have an exercise price.

(3)Under the 2022 Equity and Incentive Plan, upon the grant of an award, the number of shares available for issuance is reduced by one share for each share subject to or issued in respect of such awards. Under the 2022 Equity and Incentive Plan, shares withheld for taxes on awards are added to the number of shares available for issuance. If any restricted stock units (including any performance restricted stock units) granted under the 2014 Equity and Incentive Plan terminates or expires without delivery of shares, the number of shares available for issuance under the 2022 Equity and Incentive Plan is increased by 1.61 shares for each share that had been subject to such restricted stock unit at the time of such termination or expiration.

See Note 19—Stock-based Compensation for additional information on the 2022 Equity and Incentive Plan.

Information appearing in the Proxy Statement under the headings “Corporate Governance—Director Independence” and “Policy Regarding Related Person Transactions” is incorporated herein by reference.

Information appearing in the Proxy Statement under the headings “Proposal 5: Ratification of Selection of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm for 2023—Audit and Non-Audit Fees” and “Proposal 5: Ratification of Selection of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm for 2023—Pre-Approval of Audit and Non-Audit Services” is incorporated herein by reference.

PART IV

(a)Documents filed as part of this report:

None.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

EXHIBIT INDEX

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

• Schedules (or similar attachments) have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) of Regulation S-K.

** Portions omitted pursuant to Item 601(b)(2)(ii) of Regulation S-K.

*** Management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement required to be filed (and/or incorporated by reference) as an exhibit to this Annual Report on Form 10-K pursuant to Item 15(a)(3) of Form 10-K.

**** Portions omitted to pursuant to Item 601(b)(10)(iv) of Regulation S-K.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.