Terra Industries idles Louisiana plant for repairs

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Terra Industries Inc., which makes nitrogen for fertilizer and for industrial uses, on Friday said it will idle an ammonia manufacturing plant in Donaldsonville, La., for repairs.

The company said in a statement that it's a good time to make the repairs because current market conditions make it more affordable to import ammonia from Trinidad to replace what it would normally get from output from this plant.

Terra did not say when it expects the repairs to be complete, but said it does plan to restart the plant at that time.

Spokeswoman Kim Mathers said that all of the plant's workers will remain employed full-time, keeping the plant in shape to be restarted and participating in the repair work.

Terra previously stopped production at the plant in 2006 when prices for nitrogen products were too low to justify making, rather than importing, the ammonia used to make them. The Donaldsonville plant was restarted when nitrogen selling prices improved, according to the company's Web site.

Shares added 70 cents, or 5.7 percent, to close at $13.09.

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