Europe's energy woes hit fertilizers in another threat to food

Higher costs of the key farming input risk further exacerbating global food inflation at a time when hunger is on the rise.

Europe’s energy crisis is spreading to the fertilizer industry, threatening to tighten food supplies and push prices even higher.

Norwegian fertilizer maker Yara International ASA on Friday said record-high gas prices are hurting its production, and will by next week have curtailed about 40% of its European ammonia output capacity. That comes after another producer, CF Industries Holdings Inc., said on Wednesday it’s halting two plants in the U.K. due to soaring energy costs. 

Fertilizer prices jumped in the past year after a crop rally helped farmers boost purchases of the nutrient, and have been further supported after Hurricane Ida struck the