CF Industries Holdings, Inc. CF, JERA Co. and Mitsui & Co. have begun the construction of Blue Point One, a $3.7 billion low-carbon ammonia plant in Louisiana. The project is expected to strengthen CF’s position in the evolving low-carbon ammonia market by serving both traditional agricultural customers and emerging energy applications.
Blue Point One will have an annual production capacity of 1.4 million metric tons, making it the world’s largest low-carbon ammonia plant upon completion. The facility is expected to begin production in 2029. The project brings together the world’s largest producer of ammonia and Japan's largest energy company, JERA Co., with a pioneering investment and trading company, Mitsui & Co.
The project will use autothermal reforming technology and is designed to capture and permanently sequester approximately 98% of the carbon dioxide generated during production. This is expected to give the facility one of the lowest environmental footprints among large-scale ammonia plants.
CF Industries owns a 40% stake in the joint venture, with JERA holding 35% and Mitsui owning 25%. CF Industries will also invest an additional $550 million in shared infrastructure to support future ammonia production and fertilizer upgrades.
The development is further supported by Linde’s investment of more than $400 million in an on-site air-separation unit, while a joint venture between 1PointFive and Enbridge will transport and permanently sequester the captured carbon dioxide.
CF shares have gained 43.9% over the past year against the industry’s 43.5% decline.
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CF’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks
CF currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are Neo Performance Materials Inc. NOPMF, Carpenter Technology Corporation CRS and Avient Corporation AVNT.
While NOPMF currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), CRS and AVNT carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NOPMF’s 2026 earnings is pinned at $1.4 per share, indicating a 185.71% year-over-year increase. NOPMF’sshares have gained 91.6% over the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CRS’ fiscal 2027 earnings is pegged at $12.92 per share, indicating a rise of 20.07% year over year. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 8.39%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AVNT’s current-year earnings is pinned at $3.2 per share, indicating a 13.48% year-over-year increase. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 3.4%. AVNT’s shares have gained 20.3% over the past year.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).