Mosaic said it’s permanently shutting down a fertilizer factory in Plant City. The company stopped processing phosphate at the facility two years ago.
Four-hundred thirty people worked there at its peak, producing over two million pounds of fertilizer every year.
In 2017, Mosaic CEO Joc O’Rourke said it was one of its most expensive factories to run and the closure was likely temporary.
But now there’s a global glut of fertilizer, which weakens phosphate prices and puts pressure on Mosaic’s bottom line.
O’Rourke said in a statement Tuesday that shutting Plant City is in line with running a “low cost operation.” The company will write off $390 million in closure costs.
Cleanup and environmental mitigation will take years.
Meanwhile, Mosaic will soon move its headquarters from Minnesota to downtown Tampa. The company also recently opened a phosphate mine in Hardee County.
