Dire State of the Carbon Dioxide market in the US

The American market has been facing a Carbon Dioxide shortage, and the downstream poultry sector in the US is already feeling the effect of high Carbon Dioxide costs in the domestic market. The supply shortage will likely impact the broader downstream sectors like food and beverages. Apparent contamination in the raw gas in the US, CO2 liquefaction and purification companies currently operate with a polluted product and cannot fully achieve their requirements in downstream industries. The natural gas being used by an industrial gases business in the Mississippi region contains a substantial number of huge facilities capable of producing nearly 1,000 tons per day of Carbon Dioxide, which is contaminated.

The country's most reliable natural sources are finding contamination in their raw gas supply, which is a big reason causing the supply disruption. According to the President of Advanced Cryogenics, "Majority of the raw gas sent to CO2 firms for liquefication and purification are contaminated, disrupting the operation at the moment." Numerous substances, including rust and pipe scale, oil and grease vapor, plasticizer chemicals, and others, can contaminate CO2. If contamination problems are not addressed, a product may be susceptible to unpleasant flavors, odd odors, deterioration, and product recall in all three downstream products (Food, Beverages, and Poultry).

Ammonia manufacturers are the major producers of CO2, a by-product of ammonia manufacturing units. Due to a 60-day ammonia plant turnaround, substantial CO2 supplies in Augusta, Georgia, which come from ammonia manufacturing, are also currently unavailable. Historically, several ammonia and fertilizer manufacturers going under maintenance during July contributed to the domestic market's decreased availability and the rising price of Carbon Dioxide.

According to ChemAnalyst, the price of Carbon Dioxide in the American market is likely to rise owing to the contamination issue and low production rates on account of poor operation rates in the fertilizer industry. Due to the abovementioned obstacles and persistent driver and trailer shortages in various parts of the nation, suppliers and customers may face more challenging business conditions in the upcoming months for the American Carbon Dioxide market.