CF Industries Holdings 10-Q 2021-09-30

Table of Contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2021

Commission file number 001-32597

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(847) 405-2400

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

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

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. ☐

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

214,475,440 shares of the registrant’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share, were outstanding at November 1, 2021.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

PART I—FINANCIAL INFORMATION

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(Unaudited)

See accompanying Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE (LOSS) INCOME

(Unaudited)

See accompanying Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

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You should read the following discussion and analysis in conjunction with our annual consolidated financial statements and related notes and our discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations, which were included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 24, 2021, as well as Item 1. Financial Statements in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. 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. Notes referenced in this discussion and analysis refer to the notes to our unaudited interim consolidated financial statements in Item 1. Financial Statements in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. The following is an outline of the discussion and analysis included herein:

• Overview of CF Holdings

*◦*Our Company

*◦*Our Commitment to a Clean Energy Economy

*◦*Market Conditions and Current Developments

*◦*Financial Executive Summary

*◦*Items Affecting Comparability of Results

• Consolidated Results of Operations

*◦*Third Quarter of 2021 Compared to Third Quarter of 2020

*◦*Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021 Compared to Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020

*•*Operating Results by Business Segment

• Liquidity and Capital Resources

• Critical Accounting Estimates

• Forward-Looking Statements

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 nine 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, and compound fertilizer products (NPKs), which are solid granular fertilizer products for which the nutrient content is a combination of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

Our principal assets as of September 30, 2021 include:

• five U.S. nitrogen manufacturing facilities located in Donaldsonville, Louisiana (the largest nitrogen complex in the world); Port Neal, Iowa; Yazoo City, Mississippi; Verdigris, Oklahoma; 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 14—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;

• two United Kingdom nitrogen manufacturing facilities located in Billingham and Ince;

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

• 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.

Our Commitment to a Clean Energy Economy

In October 2020, we announced that 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 is focusing on green ammonia production, which refers to ammonia produced through a carbon-free process, and blue ammonia, which relates to ammonia produced by conventional processes but with CO2 removed through carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and other certified carbon abatement projects. We announced an initial green ammonia project at our flagship Donaldsonville nitrogen complex to produce approximately 20,000 tons per year of green ammonia, which is further discussed below. Additionally, we are developing CCS and other carbon abatement projects across our production facilities that will enable us to produce blue ammonia.

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 nitrogen complex. Construction and installation, which will be managed by us, is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2021 and to finish in 2023. The cost of the project is expected to fit within our annual capital expenditure budgets. 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, when completed in 2023, the Donaldsonville green ammonia project will be the largest of its kind in North America.

In the third quarter of 2021, we signed a memorandum of understanding with Mitsui & Co., Inc. that will guide us in a joint exploration of the development of blue ammonia projects in the United States. We plan to conduct preliminary studies covering areas such as blue ammonia supply and supply chain infrastructure, CO2 transportation and storage, expected environmental impacts, and blue ammonia economics and marketing opportunities in Japan and in other countries.

Market Conditions and Current Developments

Selling Prices and Sales Volume

Our average selling price was higher in the third quarter of 2021 than in the third quarter of 2020, driven by the impact of a tighter global nitrogen supply and demand balance, as a result of strong global demand as well as decreased global supply availability as higher global energy costs continued to drive lower global operating rates. In the third quarter of 2021, the average selling price for our products was $360 per ton, an increase of 101%, compared to $179 per ton in the third quarter of 2020, reflecting higher average selling prices across all our segments, which drove an increase in net sales of approximately $686 million. In the nine months ended September 30, 2021, the average selling price for our products was $296 per ton, or 45% higher compared to $204 per ton for the nine months ended September 30, 2020. This resulted in an increase in net sales of approximately $1.22 billion.

Our total sales volume was 20% lower in the third quarter of 2021 than in the third quarter of 2020 with lower sales reported in all segments. We shipped 3.8 million t

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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 $33, $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 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 September 30, 2021, we had natural gas derivative contracts covering certain periods through March 2022.

As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, we had open derivative contracts for 20.7 million MMBtus and 34.1 million MMBtus, respectively. A $1.00 per MMBtu increase in the forward curve prices of natural gas at September 30, 2021 would result in a favorable change in the fair value of these derivative positions of approximately $20 million, and a $1.00 per MMBtu decrease in the forward curve prices of natural gas would change their fair value unfavorably by approximately $22 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 September 30, 2021, we had five series of senior notes totaling $3.50 billion of principal outstanding with maturity dates of June 1, 2023, December 1, 2026, March 15, 2034, June 1, 2043 and March 15, 2044. The senior notes have fixed interest rates. As of September 30, 2021, the carrying value and fair value of our senior notes was approximately $3.47 billion and $4.17 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 September 30, 2021, or December 31, 2020, or during the nine months ended September 30, 2021. Maximum borrowings under the Revolving Credit Agreement during the nine months ended September 30, 2020 were $500 million. The weighted-average annual interest rate of borrowings under the Revolving Credit Agreement during the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was 2.05%.

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.

(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) 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 September 30, 2021 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

PART II—OTHER INFORMATION

ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

West Fertilizer Co.

On April 17, 2013, there was a fire and explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. fertilizer storage and distribution facility in West, Texas. According to published reports, 15 people were killed and approximately 200 people were injured in the incident, and the fire and explosion damaged or destroyed a number of homes and buildings around the facility. Various subsidiaries of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (the CF Entities) were named as defendants along with other companies in lawsuits filed in 2013, 2014 and 2015 in the District Court of McLennan County, Texas by the City of West, individual residents of the County and other parties seeking recovery for damages allegedly sustained as a result of the explosion. The cases were consolidated for discovery and pretrial proceedings in the District Court of McLennan County under the caption “In re: West Explosion Cases.” The two-year statute of limitations expired on April 17, 2015. As of that date, over 400 plaintiffs had filed claims, including at least 9 entities, 325 individuals, and 80 insurance companies. Plaintiffs allege various theories of negligence, strict liability, and breach of warranty under Texas law. Although we do not own or operate the facility or directly sell our products to West Fertilizer Co., products that the CF Entities manufactured and sold to others were delivered to the facility and may have been stored at the West facility at the time of the incident.

The Court granted in part and denied in part the CF Entities’ Motions for Summary Judgment in August 2015. Nearly all of the cases, including all wrongful death and personal injury claims, have been resolved pursuant to confidential settlements that have been or we expect will be fully funded by insurance. The remaining subrogation and statutory indemnification claims total approximately $37 million, before prejudgment interest, and are in various stages of discovery and pre-trial proceedings. The remaining claims are expected to be set for trial in 2022. We believe we have strong legal and factual defenses and intend to continue defending the CF Entities vigorously in the remaining lawsuits. The Company cannot provide a range of reasonably possible loss due to the uncertain nature of this litigation, including uncertainties around the potential allocation of responsibility by a jury to other defendants or responsible third parties. The recognition of a potential loss in the future in the West Fertilizer Co. litigation could negatively affect our results in the period of recognition. However, based upon currently available information, we expect any potential loss to be fully indemnified by insurance and do not believe that this litigation will have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

ITEM 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS.

The following table sets forth share repurchases, on a trade date basis, for each of the three months of the quarter ended September 30, 2021.

(1)Average price paid per share of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF Holdings) common stock repurchased under the 2019 Stock Repurchase Program, as defined below, is the execution price, excluding commissions paid to brokers.

(2)On February 13, 2019, we announced that our Board of Directors had authorized a new $1 billion share repurchase program through 2021 (the 2019 Share Repurchase Program). Under the 2019 Share Repurchase Program, we may repurchase CF Holdings common stock for a total expenditure of up to $1 billion through December 31, 2021. This program is discussed in Note 15—Stockholders’ Equity, in the notes to the unaudited consolidated financial statements included in Part I.

(3)Represents 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 and shares withheld to cover the price of shares upon the exercise of nonqualified stock options.

(5)Includes 1,100 shares withheld to pay employee tax obligations upon the lapse of restrictions on restricted stock units.

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

EXHIBIT INDEX

CF INDUSTRIES HOLDINGS, INC.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements 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.