Item 1. BUSINESS.

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Item 1. BUSINESS.

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 to CF Industries Holdings, Inc. only 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. 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 low-carbon hydrogen and nitrogen products for energy, fertilizer, emissions abatement and other industrial activities. Our 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, retailers, independent fertilizer distributors, traders, wholesalers and industrial users. Our core product is anhydrous ammonia (ammonia), which contains 82% nitrogen and 18% hydrogen. Products derived from ammonia that are most often used as nitrogen fertilizers include granular urea, urea ammonium nitrate solution (UAN) and ammonium nitrate (AN). AN is also used extensively by the commercial explosives industry as a component of explosives. Products derived from ammonia that are sold primarily to industrial customers include diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), urea liquor, nitric acid and aqua ammonia.

Our principal assets as of December 31, 2024 include:

  • six U.S. manufacturing facilities, located in Donaldsonville, Louisiana (the largest ammonia production complex in the world); Sergeant Bluff, Iowa (our Port Neal complex); Yazoo City, Mississippi; Claremore, Oklahoma (our Verdigris complex); Woodward, Oklahoma; and Waggaman, Louisiana. The Waggaman facility is wholly owned by us, and the other five U.S. manufacturing 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 manufacturing facilities, located in Medicine Hat, Alberta (the largest ammonia production complex in Canada) and Courtright, Ontario;

  • a United Kingdom 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 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 19—Noncontrolling Interest for additional information on our strategic venture with CHS.

For the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, we sold 18.9 million, 19.1 million and 18.3 million product tons generating net sales of $5.94 billion, $6.63 billion and $11.19 billion, respectively.

Our principal executive offices are located outside of Chicago, Illinois, at 2375 Waterview Drive, Northbrook, Illinois 60062, 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

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

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 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 that we file electronically with the SEC.

Our Strategy

At our core, CF Industries is a producer of ammonia. We use the Haber-Bosch process to fix atmospheric nitrogen with hydrogen from natural gas to produce anhydrous ammonia, whose chemical composition is NH3. We sell the ammonia itself or upgrade it to products such as granular urea, UAN and DEF. A majority of the ammonia and ammonia-derived products we manufacture are used as fertilizer, as the nitrogen content provides energy essential for crop growth. Other important uses of our products include emissions control.

Our strategy is to leverage our unique capabilities to accelerate the world’s transition to clean energy. We believe this strategy builds upon our leadership in ammonia production to capture emerging opportunities to produce ammonia with a lower carbon intensity (“low-carbon ammonia”) than that of ammonia produced through traditional processes. These opportunities include traditional applications in agriculture to help reduce the carbon footprint of food production and the life cycle carbon intensity of ethanol production, enabling production of sustainable aviation fuel, among other purposes. These opportunities also include new growth opportunities from energy-intensive industries, such as power generation and marine shipping, as ammonia represents an efficient mechanism to both ship and store hydrogen, as well as a clean energy fuel source in its own right as ammonia does not contain or emit carbon when combusted. Our strategy also strengthens our existing business.

We execute our strategy across four dimensions:

  • decarbonizing our existing network to accelerate the availability of low-carbon ammonia and upgraded nitrogen products for traditional agricultural and industrial applications;

  • evaluating new low-carbon ammonia capacity growth to supply emerging opportunities from power generation and marine shipping, among others;

  • forging partnerships to accelerate our timeline, reducing risks and bridging gaps in areas where we do not have expertise; and

  • collaborating to build understanding of ammonia’s clean energy capability, safety track record and regulatory environment.

At our Donaldsonville and Yazoo City complexes, our decarbonization projects are leveraging carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) to enable us to convert a portion of our existing ammonia production to low-carbon ammonia. CCS requires the construction of carbon dioxide (CO2) dehydration and compression units to enable process CO2 captured from the ammonia production process to be transported and sequestered, which prevents approximately 60% of the CO2 generated by ammonia production from being emitted to the atmosphere. Construction of the dehydration and compression unit at our Donaldsonville complex is in advanced stages, with an estimated total cost of approximately $200 million over the life of the project. Construction of the dehydration and compression unit at our Yazoo City complex is expected to cost approximately $100 million over the life of the project. For each facility we have contracted with ExxonMobil to transport and sequester the captured CO2 in permanent geologic storage. At Donaldsonville, CCS is expected to commence in 2025 and annually will sequester up to approximately 2 million metric tons of CO2 that would otherwise have been emitted to the atmosphere. At Yazoo City, CCS is expected to commence in 2028 and annually will sequester up to approximately 500,000 metric tons of CO2 that would otherwise have been emitted to the atmosphere. Each project is expected to qualify under Section 45Q of the Internal Revenue Code for tax credits per metric ton of sequestered CO2.

Decarbonization projects in our existing network also include our electrolyzer project at our Donaldsonville complex to produce ammonia with hydrogen sourced from an electrolysis process that produces no CO2 emissions. Commissioning of the 20-megawatt alkaline water electrolysis plant to produce hydrogen was suspended due to an issue experienced in the fourth quarter of 2024. Upon identification and remediation of the issue, we expect to resume commissioning activities. At full electrolyzer capacity, we will be able to produce approximately 20,000 tons of low-carbon ammonia per year.

Our decarbonization projects also include front-end engineering and design (FEED) studies to inform our evaluation of whether, and how best, to invest in export-oriented, low-carbon ammonia capacity at our Blue Point complex in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, to supply developing clean energy markets and traditional ammonia markets where demand for low-carbon product is emerging.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, we received results from a FEED study evaluating the use of autothermal reforming (ATR) ammonia production technology alongside CCS to enable the production of low-carbon ammonia. ATR technology, when combined with CCS to capture and sequester process CO2 emissions, is expected to reduce CO2 emissions from the ammonia production process by more than 90% compared to conventional ammonia plants. The FEED study results estimate the costs of a project with these attributes to be approximately $4 billion for the approximately 1.4 million metric ton capacity greenfield ATR ammonia facility and CCS technologies. Additionally, we estimate approximately $500 million would be required for the scalable common infrastructure for our Blue Point complex, such as ammonia storage and a vessel loading dock.

We have entered into joint development agreements (JDAs) with two potential partners, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and JERA Co., Inc. for the development of the greenfield low-carbon ammonia capacity. Our evaluation includes assessing whether the ammonia production technology under consideration will satisfy carbon intensity and other requirements for potential end users. Should a positive final investment decision (FID) be reached to construct greenfield low-carbon ammonia capacity at our Blue Point complex, construction and commissioning is expected to take approximately four years from a positive FID.

In addition to discussions with existing customers who have interest in using low-carbon ammonia for traditional applications, we are engaged in discussions regarding the supply of low-carbon ammonia for new applications. We are evaluating and are in various stages of discussions with other companies for long-term offtake and/or potential joint investments related to new and traditional applications for low-carbon ammonia. These discussions continue to advance as we gain greater clarity regarding demand for low-carbon ammonia, including associated carbon intensity requirements, government incentives and regulatory developments.

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.

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, we 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 in Ince, United Kingdom and Billingham, United Kingdom to our consolidated manufacturing capacity. Due to the substantial increase in the cost of natural gas in the United Kingdom, in 2022, we closed the Ince facility, and in 2023, we ceased operations of the ammonia plant at the Billingham facility, which was idled in September 2022. Since that time, we have imported ammonia for upgrade into AN and other nitrogen products at the Billingham facility.

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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.

On December 1, 2023, we acquired an ammonia production facility located in Waggaman, Louisiana from Dyno Nobel Louisiana Ammonia, LLC (DNLA), a U.S. subsidiary of Australia-based Incitec Pivot Limited (IPL), pursuant to an asset purchase agreement with DNLA and IPL. The facility has a nameplate capacity of 880,000 tons of ammonia annually. In connection with the closing of the acquisition on December 1, 2023, we entered into a long-term ammonia offtake agreement providing for us to supply up to 200,000 tons of ammonia per year to IPL’s Dyno Nobel, Inc. subsidiary. Under the terms of the asset purchase agreement, $425 million of the $1.675 billion purchase price, subject to adjustment, was allocated by the parties to the ammonia offtake agreement. We funded the balance of the final purchase price, after adjustment, with $1.221 billion of cash on hand.

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 22—Segment Disclosures for additional information.

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Our Products

Our primary products are ammonia, granular urea, UAN and AN. Our historical sales 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.

202420232022
Sales Volume (tons)Net SalesSales Volume (tons)Net SalesSales Volume (tons)Net Sales
(tons in thousands; dollars in millions)
Ammonia4,085$1,7363,546$1,6793,300$3,090
Granular Urea4,5221,6004,5701,8234,5722,892
UAN6,7711,6787,2372,0686,7883,572
AN1,4644191,5714971,594845
Other(1)2,1015032,2065642,077787
Total18,943$5,93619,130$6,63118,331$11,186

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

Gross margin was $2.06 billion, $2.55 billion and $5.86 billion for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

We own and operate eight manufacturing facilities in North America, including six manufacturing facilities in the United States, and two in Canada. As of December 31, 2024, the combined production capacity of these eight facilities represented approximately 40%, 40%, 44% and 19% of North American ammonia, granular urea, UAN and AN production capacity, respectively. Each of our 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 manufacturing facility produces AN and primarily serves the agricultural and industrial markets in the United Kingdom.

The following table shows the production capacities as of December 31, 2024 at each of our manufacturing facilities:

Average Annual Capacity**(1)**
Gross Ammonia**(2)**Net Ammonia**(2)**UAN**(3)**Urea**(4)**AN**(5)**Other**(6)**
(tons in thousands)
Donaldsonville (Louisiana)(7)(8)4,3351,3903,2552,635—445
Medicine Hat (Alberta)1,230770—810——
Port Neal (Iowa)1,230658001,350—290
Verdigris (Oklahoma)(8)1,2104301,955———
Waggaman (Louisiana)880880————
Woodward (Oklahoma)480130810——115
Yazoo City (Mississippi)(8)(9)570—160—1,035125
Courtright (Ontario)(8)(10)500265345——400
Billingham (U.K.)(8)————595410
10,4353,9307,3254,7951,6301,785
Unconsolidated Affiliate
PLNL (Trinidad)(11)360360————
Total10,7954,2907,3254,7951,6301,785

(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.

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

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(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, Donaldsonville 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:

December 31,
202420232022
(tons in thousands)
Ammonia(1)9,8009,4969,807
Granular urea4,4044,5444,561
UAN (32%)6,7536,8526,706
AN1,3921,5201,517

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

Manufacturing Facilities

Donaldsonville, Louisiana

The Donaldsonville facility is the world’s largest and most flexible ammonia production 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 139,000 tons of ammonia, 202,000 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 ammonia production complex in Canada. It has two ammonia plants and one urea plant. The complex has on-site storage for 55,000 tons of ammonia and 55,000 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 82,000 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 consists of 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 57,000 tons of ammonia and 102,000 tons of 32% UAN.

Waggaman, Louisiana

The Waggaman facility is located near New Orleans, Louisiana on the Mississippi River approximately 60 miles southeast of the Donaldsonville facility. The facility consists of one ammonia plant, has access to an ammonia pipeline, and has on-site storage for approximately 39,000 tons of ammonia.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

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 34,000 tons of ammonia and 84,000 tons of 32% UAN.

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 48,000 tons of ammonia, 47,000 tons of 32% UAN and 10,000 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 61,000 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 three nitric acid plants; the Portrack site, approximately two miles away, which contains one 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 37,000 tons of ammonia and 138,000 tons of AN. In addition, we previously operated an ammonia plant at the main site of the Billingham facility. However, in September 2022, we idled ammonia production at the facility. Since that time, we have imported ammonia for upgrade at the facility into AN and other nitrogen products. In the third quarter of 2023, we approved our plan to permanently close the ammonia plant at the Billingham facility.

Point Lisas, Trinidad

The Point Lisas 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 2024, natural gas accounted for approximately 28% 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 in Louisiana, SONAT and TETCO ELA in Mississippi; 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 2024, our manufacturing facilities consumed, in the aggregate, approximately 345 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 17—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 4,800 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.

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The Donaldsonville and Waggaman facilities are connected to the 2,000-mile long Sunoco ammonia pipeline through which we have the ability to transport ammonia to ten Company-owned terminals and additional shipping points in the Midwestern U.S. corn belt.

Storage Facilities and Other Properties

As of December 31, 2024, we owned or leased space at 41 in-market storage terminals and warehouses located in a 19-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 2.8 million tons of product. Our storage capabilities are summarized in the following table:

AmmoniaGranular UreaUAN**(1)**AN
Number of FacilitiesCapacity (000 Tons)Number of FacilitiesCapacity (000 Tons)Number of FacilitiesCapacity (000 Tons)Number of FacilitiesCapacity (000 Tons)
Plants9552331565512148
Terminal and Warehouse Locations
Owned(2)21735——9236——
Leased(3)56932313188——
Total In-Market2680432322424——
Total Storage Capacity1,356338975148

(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 four 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, retailers, independent fertilizer distributors, traders, wholesalers and industrial users. Sales are generated by our internal marketing and sales force. CHS was our largest customer in 2024 and accounted for approximately 12% of our consolidated net sales. We have a strategic venture with CHS under which CHS has a minority equity interest in CFN. See Note 19—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 reliability, 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 competitors with North American operations include Nutrien Ltd., Koch Fertilizer LLC, LSB Industries, CVR Partners, LP 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, 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. However, 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

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

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 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, Trinidad and other locations, including laws and regulations relating to the generation, handling and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes; 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 or who own or operate property where hazardous substances have been released or disposed of by other parties. We may be subject to more stringent enforcement of existing or new environmental, health and safety laws in the future. In addition, we are also subject to certain environmental, health and safety laws of jurisdictions where we introduce products, chemicals, or substances into a market.

Environmental, Health and Safety Expenditures

Our environmental, health and safety capital expenditures in 2024 totaled approximately $30 million. We estimate that we will have approximately $49 million of environmental, health and safety capital expenditures in 2025. 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 or outages. A further description of turnaround activities is included in Note 8—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 and change frequently. 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, and then a decision on remediation at the site. 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. The Georgetown Canyon former mine and processing facility was included in the group of former mines and processing facilities identified by the trustees. In June 2021, we received another notice from the U.S. Department of the Interior that the natural resource damage trustees were commencing a ‘subsequent’ phase of the natural resource damage assessment, but no further details were provided with respect to said assessment. Because the former Georgetown Canyon mine site is still in the risk assessment and feasibility study stage, we are not able to estimate at this time our potential liability, if any, with respect to the cleanup of the site or a possible claim for natural resource damages. However, based on the results of the site investigation conducted to date, we do not expect the remedial or financial obligations to which we may be subject involving this or other cleanup sites will have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

Regulation of Greenhouse Gases

Our production facilities emit greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as carbon dioxide (CO2) 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.

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 increased in stringency from 2022 levels, and we expect that the regulations will continue to increase in stringency going forward as Canada continues to work toward its stated goal of net zero GHG emissions by 2050. 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 2025, the excess emissions fee under the federal, Alberta and Ontario regulatory programs is CAD $95 per metric ton, which fee will increase by CAD $15 per metric ton per year, reaching CAD $170 per metric ton 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. Pursuant to an EPA GHG reporting rule, all of our U.S. manufacturing facilities, which are considered large emitters of GHGs, are required to monitor GHG emissions and report the previous year’s emissions annually. 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%. While the United States has previously been a party to the Paris Agreement and as recently as April 2021 increased its goal to reduce GHG emissions to 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030, the Trump Administration issued executive orders on January 20, 2025 that seek to undo many of the preceding administration’s climate-focused initiatives and to expand the use of fossil energy, including ordering the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, revoking prior climate-focused executive orders, directing the EPA to submit a report on the “legality and continuing applicability” of its 2009 endangerment finding related to GHGs under the Clean Air Act and to issue guidance on the social cost of carbon, including whether it should be eliminated, and pausing clean energy disbursement under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. There exists significant uncertainty with respect to how climate policy and GHG regulation will develop in the United States in the coming years.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

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 a culture of inclusion and engagement.

Employee Population. We employed approximately 2,800 employees at December 31, 2024, of which 79% were located in the United States, 15% in Canada, and 6% in the United Kingdom. As of December 31, 2024, approximately 10% of our employees have worked for the Company more than 20 years, 25% of our employees have worked for the Company between 11 and 20 years, 22% of our employees have worked for the Company between 6 and 10 years, and 43% of our employees have worked at the Company for less than 6 years. Full-time employees represented nearly 100% of our workforce as of December 31, 2024 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.

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, 2024, our employee 12-month rolling average recordable incident rate (RIR) was 0.31 incidents per 200,000 work hours, and during the year ended December 31, 2024, our total recordable injury/illness count was nine, including one fatality. For the year ended December 31, 2024, our days away, restricted or transferred (DART) incident rate was 0.17 injuries per 200,000 work hours, and our lost time incident rate was 0.07 injuries per 200,000 work hours.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

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